


Love is Strength

by Peggysousfan, RetraidaEverywhere



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Basically Sisters, Basically what happens after 7x 12, Bellarke, Bellarke Endgame, Bellarke angst!, Blodreina vs. Bill Cadogan, Cadogan sucks, Clarke Griffin needs a break, Clarketavia - Freeform, F/M, Lots of Angst, Not Echo friendly, Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin are Best Friends, Other, Protective Miller, The 100 (TV) Season 7 Speculation, Wanheda is back, Wanheda vs. Sheidheda, Writing Collab, and super evil, anti becho, never piss off Clarke griffin, or Octavia Blake, protective Bellmay, protective delinquents, sheidheda is a mess, sisters unite!, spacekru get their shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:09:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 28,998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26058502
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Peggysousfan/pseuds/Peggysousfan, https://archiveofourown.org/users/RetraidaEverywhere/pseuds/RetraidaEverywhere
Summary: After the conundrum and betrayal of Bellamy Blake on Bardo, Clarke Griffin makes her way home back to Sanctum, only to find it was not at all how she left it behind. Clarke alone must find a way to save her friends, Bellamy, and her daughter.In the meantime, Octavia thinks of a way to return to her family and save Clarke and her brother. She and the remaining delinquents find a way to return home.Together they will fight the last war and rid the world of false gods.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Clarke Griffin & Nathan Miller, Octavia Blake & Clarke Griffin, Past Echo/ Bellamy Blake
Comments: 44
Kudos: 93





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic written by two authors, myself and RetraidaEverywhere (Also known as daenerystj on Tumblr) We have been working on this fic for several days and continue to do so! Season 7 has been a whirlwind of a mess and we decided to write this story based on what happens after 7x 12. Its more of an Au than canon compliment, but you get the jist ;)
> 
> Also, the edit was done by RetraidaEverywhere! You my friend are amazing! 
> 
> I hope you all enjoy this story we have written!!

When Clarke and the others had went through the Anomaly to return to Sanctum, she had imagined things differently. Maybe everything wouldn't have been exactly as she left it, but Clarke Griffin never imagined this. Murphy tied down a a prisoner while a one eyed Russel Prime sits freely on a thrown surrounded by wonkru warriors. Clarke takes off her helmet and looks around, her shock imminent.

"What the hell happened here?"

"Gee where do we start." Murphy says, making Russel glance at him before looking to Clarke. He has risen from his thrown of skulls and steps closer, laughing with the same sneer.

"The great Wanheda has returned! Perfect." He clasps his hands together looking to her and the others from Bardo, their helmets still on besides Raven.

"Who the hell let you out of your cell?"

Clarke watched carefully for a few moments as she picked up all of Russell's attire, something about him was vaguely familiar. Out of nowhere came a clear image of a younger man, the man's skin was pale and he had only one eye, his body was ungainly and on his face there was only darkness. She knew who he was, but how had that image come to her mind? The flame, the flame had given the key, this would be a secret she would keep, part of the flame was still in her mind, would be beneficial to her family. With a dark smile, Clarke stepped forward to face the man, she would not let him see her weak. She was Wanheda, the commander of death, no one could kill death.

"Malachi. Or should I say, Sheidheda? Malachi of the Sangedakru clan, the dark commander." As she says this, shaidheda's face goes slack. "The man who killed his own guardians in rebellion, and the man who tried to use the flame to manipulate the new commanders and make them like you."

The people of Bardo remove their helmets and watch the scene before them, no one knowing what to do. Bellamy's head turned quickly to Clarke. _How could she have known that? Unless part of the flame was truly left in her head. It had to be._ She knew he was watching her but she refused to break her gaze with Sheidheda, it was not until her opponent threw back his head laughing in surprise, that she crossed her gaze with Bellamy. He raised an eyebrow at her with a question written all over his face, she simply negotiated with her head and he went back to being completely rigid, showing no emotion whatsoever. None of them took into account Bill's suspicious look at them.

"They said you were smart." He replies, his voice deep and unnerving. "I knew it was only a matter of time before you returned, although a part of me had thought you were dead."

"As if you can kill the commander of death so easily." She says, taking her own step towards him, fighting her internal battle of thoughts as the concern rages in her mind. Raven reaches for her, but Clarke bushes her off. She and Sheidheda stand before one another, glaring. Their gazes met and matched. "How are still even alive? You were suppose to have died when we destroyed the flame!"

_This wasn't possible. It couldn't be! His code was deleted in the flame so they could save Madi. Madi... Where was she? Gaia was suppose to protect her. Where was everyone? I need Octavia here, she would know what to do. My family my responsibility. I have to save them._

"You people are pure savages." Shaidheda and Clarke drop their stare and turn to Bill Cadogan as he speaks. "Is this really what has become of humanity? And you mock our belief, Clarke. Our ways, and yet when you see a man such as this you're not phased. He's barbaric. This is just another example of why we need the key. We don't have time to waste on this impure being."

Clarke scoffs at this and shakes her head, no one else dares making a move to actor speak. The tension alone from Wanheda and Sheidheda was enough to make everyone stand back, let alone Clarke and Cadogan. The pure rage she felt emits from her with each of her words.

"You think we're barbarians, but you don't look in other people's houses without ordering your own. It's you who banishes people who don't want to follow you. It's you who executes those people for the same reason. Its YOU who enters the minds of people without their authorization in order to reach your own end! You preach that love is selfishness, but you are the selfish person here!" said Clarke pointing with a finger in a euphoric way to the man in white who dared to speak of the danger of humanity as if he knew all the keys, when the truth is that he knew nothing. "You Bill Cadogan think of yourself as a God. The Shepard that delivered his people from the fire that destroyed the world... When really you're nothing but a fraud!"

"Clarke-" Bellamy tries to warn her, knowing the others will not hesitate to advance and defend Cadogan, but she doesn't care. 

"You never predicted the world burning in flames, you had connections to people of higher power and knowledge. You knew Becca and other scientist and leaders who created the bombs and A.I that ended the world. You didn't predict the fire and deliver anyone! Instead you were informed ahead of time and left millions to die in a mass amount of radiation by giving out fake keys to unfitted bunkers. Only those who made it to level 12 were saved. Everyone else be damned, right?"

"How...?" Bill began to ask surprised at the blonde woman's attack of anger towards him. 

Clarke watched as all the guards turned to the dumbfounded man for some coherent answer. He was just looking at her as if trying to square all the data that she just threw at his face, how could she know all this? They had underestimated her from the beginning. 

"Yes, I am bloody, cruel, and vengeful when it comes to protecting my family. You can call me a barbarian, you can say that I'm a monster, but I am not ashamed of what I am unlike you. You pretend that you're a God, but in reality you're a nobody. Just a man looking to be followed." She said walking towards him without turning her back on Sheidheda. Clarke also notices how the guards don't attempt to stop her, they only looked between them in search of some explanation. "I will do whatever it takes to save my family. You made the right choice to leave Octavia behind, because now you're a dead man, that I don't doubt her. She will find a way home and she will come for you. There will be no place where you can hide, and there will be no planets where you can flee, because you will not see it arrive. Before you can even blink, you'll be dead. Just as you should have been a long time ago." 

As Clarke finishes her speech, Bill Cadogan visibly pales in complexion, no one in the room dares to move at all. The truth was out in the open, the Shepard was exposed, and his own people were unsure what to make of this. Even those of Wonkru made no motion of movement. Wanheda was still as strong and formidable as the rumors claimed.

"The commander of death, a woman with character. Now I understand why the other commanders praised you." Sheidheda speaks aloud, his voice cutting through the tension and fear from the cult leader. "No one had been able to have the flame in their head without being a true natblida, and yet you did. Becca primheda let you enter her mind zone, I never let anyone in. What is special about you? " Russel's dark voice questions, looking Clarke's body up and down. 

She says nothing in return. Instead she faces him once more, her stance not once wavering. Sheidheda was impressed, indeed. He knew Wanheda was fierce, brave, unwavering, and the woman in front of him shows just that. Not many had he ability to meet his standards in expectation and intimidation; and yet here she was.

"In another life we would have made a powerful match." He smirks in admiration. 

Bellamy's head snapped back to the man through clenched teeth. He couldn't be serious? But the look Sheidheda gives Clarke is enough to convince Bellamy that he was. He would never let Clarke get close to someone like that, she was too good for anyone. Bellamy grunted sharply before looking back into Clarke's eyes searching for any kind of recognition, but he finds nothing. She doesn't look to him. 

"I would never be with someone like you. You have no heart," She whispered in disgust towards the man before looking back at Bill.

"Do you have something to say?"

"You have no idea what you're dealing with, nor what you're talking about. I saved my people and delivered them to safety. Now it is our mission to see the safety of humanity as a whole."

"Right. Through transcendence and the light? You're insane." As Clarke says this, Sheidheda laughs from behind her.

"The light? You're crazier than Becca showed in her memories." Russel's cold voice echoes from his old body. 

"Does Becca communicate with you?" Bill asked towards Sheidheda with renewed interest, if he could talk to her he might have the key. 

"Not anymore. She and the commanders before me did, they were strong, and now the flame is gone. But none would speak to a man like you. I may be the dark commander, but I'm no fool." Sheiheda whispered harshly towards Bill laughing wickedly.

"STOP!" Clarke yelled, stepping between the two men. She looks between them before speaking, her face filled with disdain. "I don't know which of you is more crazy, but I do know you're both shameful power hungry ass hats looking to be followed!" 

"Clarke..." Bellamy whispered moving forward to lightly grasp the blonde woman's arm trying to separate her from them. 

"Not now, Bellamy! You've done enough, natrona." Clarke said suddenly angry at him."None of this would be happening if you hadn't told a cult leader he didn't have what he wanted! Instead you turned you back on me, on everyone, and I don't want to hear it." 

"None of this would be happening if you would stop trying to die!" Bellamy yelled against her, "I did all this for you, to protect you! It's always for you, princess!"

"I NEVER ASKED YOU TO!!"

Clarke's shout echoes through the area, her argument with Bellamy startling everyone. Even sheidheda wasn't expecting such an outburst. Clarke's anger kept growing the longer she was here, the longer she spoke to the people around her. She never once wavered in fear or doubt, instead she persevered in anger and strength. 

She's lost everything again. She had nothing left after hearing of Bellamy's death, just her instinct to save her remaining people, and now she finds that isn't even possible. Bellamy is alive and Clarke has to deal with the pain of his betrayal. Now she's home and has a renewed pain of despair and worry. She sees no sign of her daughter and finds a psychotic killer on a thrown of skulls. Skulls no doubt made from the very people she tried to make peace with and protect from the false Gods's called Primes.

Clarke does what she must to save and protect, forcing her emotions away for the greater good. Even now as she argues with her other half. Her tears have long since dried up on Bardo and show no signs or appearing again. Instead her anger overrules. She can't fall again. Shaiedheda notices this within a matter of seconds.

"Yu're nou afraid kom face yur kwelnes." Sheidheda says laughing at Bellamy's surprised face. Wanheda was everything he heard and more. "This man in white thinks that we owe him something, but commanders do not give information about the flame before we die." 

"Nou listen kom em, Klark. Beja-" Bellamy glances to Sheidheda as he steps closer to Clarke.

"NO! I'm not listening to either of you!" She steps away from all of them, her hands raised in a fit of rage. 

"Lovers' fight." He points out, looking between Clarke and Bellamy before his eyes land on Cadogan. "I'm sure this man in white doesn't want his cult to love, but it seems that in your herd there's a black sheep. You have to a fool to think that humanity will not love." Sheidheda said laughing openly in front of Bill's face. "Even I did once, and could return to do so with a woman like you." He side-eyes Clarke as she stares off with Bellamy, grabbing her attention. His gaze lingers on her, making her internally squirm. 

"Bite me." Clarke sneers, making him laugh.

"You have no reason to be against me, Wanheda. I spared your child, I gathered your people, and I took care of the Sanctum problem." He smirks. "As far as I can see... You should be thanking me."

Clarke stills at the mention of Madi, he let her live. "My daughter? Where is she?" She demands looking directly at Sheidheda, but he doesn't answer straight away. "Take me to her and we can talk, but first we lock that one in a cage." The blonde pointed to Bill with disgust written all over her face. 

Cadogan starts to refuse, saying this was not part of their deal. She was suppose to take them to the flame so they could repair it as a treaty for her friends to return safely, but Clarke knew better. Octavia and Miller would get themselves out, and she knows it. 

"You heard her, take the white herd and lock them away. Wanheda has returned home!" The commander shouts, smiling in acceptance. 

The wonkru guards advanced to seize all the men from Bardo, including Bellamy who was screaming and squirming and refusing to move. He struck the face of one of the guards with his right elbow, sending him straight to the ground, shocking Cadogan, the other disciples, Raven, Clarke, and Sheidheda. No one expected his outburst of violence. 

"I stay with Clarke. You can try to take me but I will kill every one last one of you in the process. I stay by her, always!" He shouted with restrained anger, his hands clenched into fists waiting for a fight that didn't come. Everyone had become silent, like the calm before a storm, and that's when everyone heard the siren. The red sun was has returned. Everyone begins to panic with confusion, but Bellamy could only look at Clarke in fear.

**~~~ ~~~ ~~~**

Bardo

Octavia had been pacing for what felt like hours since the guards had taken Clarke to mcap. She only stopped when the door opened and Bellamy walked in helping a woozy Clarke sit down on one of the beds, a cloth to the side of her head. Octavia rushes to Clarke's side and saw the blood dripping down her face. _How could Bellamy do this? How could he let this happen? After all these years of fighting for Clarke, protecting her, how could he let her go through this?_ But before she could vocally ask, her brother speaks. 

"We're leaving for Sanctum in a few minutes. Make sure Clarke is ready by then." 

"What? Bellamy what is going on?!"

"I can't explain, O. Just... help her. Please." And with that he's gone. 

Octavia focuses in on the blonde in front of her, streaks of black covering her once light hair. She fought mcap hard, that much was obvious. And now they're taking her away to Sanctum. Clarke groans slightly and reaches for Octavia's hand, a faint smirk on her lips. 

"Hey."

"Hey." Octavia removes the cloth and moves to the other side of the woman's head, making her flinch. "Sorry." 

"No, it's okay. Thanks." Clarke smiles and removes the black coated rag before looking to the brunette in front of her. 

"Clarke... What happened in there?"

She scoffs lightly and shakes her head, remembering every moment clear as day. "They put me in the chair and strapped me down to try and invade my head. Luckily I was able to fight it off." She sighs and looks away, unable to look up. 

"Clarke."

"I-I don't know what to think, O." She sniffles. "H-He's not the same anymore. He let them take me, torture my mind, and then tried to help me! It doesn't make any sense."

"Wait, Bell tried to help you?"

"I think, but that could be false hope." Octavia presses further, her gaze filled with a million questions. "He told Cadogan that I didn't know anything from the flame, so they should just stop using the machine. But the ever knowing 'Shepard' refused. He threatened to send all of you to penance to die and I... I can't let that happen." 

Octavia wanted to press for more information, but was stopped when the door reopened. Bill Cadogan, Raven, Bellamy, and three other disciples in white stood by the door waiting. Clarke takes a deep breath before standing up,squeezing Octavia's hand before walking away.

"Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim." As Clarke says this, Octavia watches as the door closes, a single tear falling down her face. Her family was gone again. Completely out of her reach.

But that was yesterday. Today a new found anxiety creeps over her as Octavia paces around the room she shared with Clarke, walking from side to side. She knew she looked like a dog locked in a cage, but she was too worried about them to care about anything else. She didn't know how but she had to get out of escape to get to her family. Something was going on, something inside her that said her family was in danger and Sanctum wasn't safe. She had to get to them. 

Octavia, without thinking about the consequences, rushed to the door, knocking on the cold metal, someone had to come, someone had to open this cage. Being locked inside this room was like being under the floor again, but with the complication of not being able to save her family. She pounds and pounds again until the door opens; luckily it was Gabriel. 

"Thank God it's you! I have to get out of here and I need your help." She said without wasting time walking through the door looking for the rest of the group, including Hope. 

"What's going on?" he asked, walking quickly behind her. 

"My family is in danger and I have to help them." She says, looking down the halls for danger. 

"How do you know?" He asks, ironically as he opened one of the doors to show Hope and Echo in the same room. 

"I know inside of me that something is wrong. I can't explain it. I just know, okay? Trust me." She pleads desperately before entering the room walking directly next to Hope. "Get what you need, we're going back to Sanctum. Our people need us." She whispers, clutching the young woman's face gently. 

"You can't go back there, we have orders to stay here." Echo's cold voice rings through the room looking at her. 

"Watch me." Octavia challenged the spy with her gaze as she walks with her niece to the door. 

"You are not going to leave, Octavia." Says the woman with force stopping in the middle of the way to the door. 

"Always the perfect spy, aren't you, Echo?" Octavia's voice rose to look up at her with the hatred she had held for years. "Get out of my way or I'll make you. And believe me when I say you won't like that ending." Echo is silent for a moment before speaking, her spite biting back.

"Try it, I've shown you how to kick your ass multiple times. I've throw you off a cliff and beaten you in training here. You won't win." whispered Echo's voice coldly. 

"Bull shit! I almost beat you on that cliff! And unlike you, I had just started training. Doesn't that say a lot about the way you fight. " Octavia bites back, looking at her from top to bottom before nudging Hope aside. "Get out of my way, Echo. My family needs me."

"I'm not moving, Octavia. We have orders," Echo replies, crossing her arms over her chest. Octavia scoffs with a baffles expression on her face; Echo was being serious.

But Octavia knew they were running out of time. She had no idea what was happening on Sanctum, or what was going to happen to Clarke and Bellamy, but what she did know was that she needs to be there to help them. The only person who could snap Bellamy out of his trance was Clarke, and she couldn't do that if she was dead.

"Now that Bellamy told you what we all knew from the beginning, you have no one to follow like a little lapdog. You have no one to follow absurd orders from. First it was Nia, then Roan, and now that my brother has finally left you, you try to follow the people that have tried to kill our people, my family, again. And believe me when I say... I won't let you touch them!" She shouts advancing towards the spy with hate written all over her face. "I'm going back to my brother, Clarke, and Madi, even if it's the last thing I do. Now get the hell out of my way!" 

"I'm not going to do that. It's not what your brother would want." She says without a trace of emotion. 

"YOU ARE THE ONE WHO HAS NO IDEA OF WHAT BELLAMY WOULD WANT! You don't know him at all! My brother needs me! My sister, Clarke, needs me! My niece, Madi, needs me! SO GET OUT OF MY FUCKING WAY!" Octavia shouts before lunging at Echo, noticing how her face pales for a moment. 

"I'm your family too, I'm your sister too. I'm the one who is in a relationship with your brother, Octavia." Says the woman with conviction looking at Octavia with a scowl. How she could think of Clarke as more of a sister and family than her was appalling to Echo, she didn't see it.

"YOU ARE NOT DATING MY BROTHER! Everyone knows he chose the cult over you! Everyone! But he never chose the cult over Clarke or me. He never loved you, face it. You were just the distraction of Clarke's death. You were **never** his real family. He only protected you because he had to face the two people he loved most and failed to protect them, and that terrified him. Do you know what he did when I threatened your life? Nothing. Do you know what he did when I threatened Clarke's life? He put me in a coma, one he knew I may never come out of! He risked killing me to save Clarke. 

You have threatened the life of me and my family over and over again. You tried to kill Clarke on several occasions, one of them was when Madi had to give you an order to stop because she didn't want you to kill her mother in front of her!" Shouted Octavia trembling with rage. "By the way, Clarke held back! She could have killed you without a problem, but she decided not to hurt you because you were important to Bellamy. Unlike you she is considerate of what my brother feels. Unlike **you** she knows what he would want! Now I will say this one last time... Get out of my way, spy, and I'll let you live." 

The look and stance of Octavia is enough for Hope to jump into action and stands between them, pushing them apart. She knows how much Octavia loves Bellamy, Clarke, Madi, and the others. She spent 10 years trying to get back to them and have Hope meet them when she was little. If beating Echo and having to kill her was the only way to get to them, then Octavia wouldn't hesitate to do it. 

"Auntie O is right. Something is wrong." But Echo still disagrees.

"Nothing is wrong apart from Bellamy believing in this cult!"

"That's where you're wrong. Because Bellamy doesn't fully believe. He cracked when he was with me and Clarke. He tried to help her during mcap because he hates seeing her suffer. And now they're both gone along with Cadogan! We were left here as leverage. Its common sense. Clarke doesn't break with physical and mental pain, only when her family and friends are in danger. They threatened us so they could get her to agree to get what they want. But if we leave to find them, they can't use her anymore. Clarke will be safe, and she can bring Bellamy back! We can fight this and go the hell home! Why can't you accept that?!" Octavia screams, making Echo stay silent. 

No one really knows how to answer for a while until Miller speaks up. "Octavia's right. I say we kick some disciple ass and go save our friends. WWCD. What would Clarke do? I think the answers pretty simple." 

Octavia throws her hands in the air as praise, an exaggeration really thanking him. "Miller gets it!" Hope, Niylah, Jordan, and Gabriel all agree as well. Clarke wouldn't abandon them to die or be prisoners. She would sacrifice herself if she believed it would save them, now they had to save her. 

They make a plan to take over the stone room, enter the code and go to sanctum to save their people. But as they make a move to start the plan, Echo protests. 

"Either you come with us or stay. Its your choice! But we're going and you can't stop us." Octavia's statement was clear. Come and live or stay and die. It wasn't that hard of a choice when she was so blunt.

Echo goes with them to Sanctum.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Red sun has made its second appearance, but not everyone makes it to shelter in time. What will happen to Clarke and her friends when they hash out all of their demons and the unsaid over the years?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning!! Not Echo or Raven friendly through this chapter. If you like these characters, we do not recommend reading this section of the story.  
> Also this is a very, very, long chapter lol but its got a lot of good stuff! So, RetraidaEverywhere and I hope you all enjoy reading!!!   
> PS, RetraidaEverywhere did the new edit as well! She is amazing!

The plan had went off without a problem and within an hour, the group had successfully made it through the Anomaly to Sanctum. However, that was where the easy trail had ended. As they remove the helmets they had taken from Bardo, to protect their memories, they are met with a sight of chaos. People in the room are screaming and rushing to get out of the palace door, while there was a loud alarm blaring though the air. Octavia ignores it all, however, and looks through the crowd for a short blonde haired woman with a leather jacket, and much to her own surprise she finds her within seconds. 

"Clarke!" As the brunette says her name, the blonde turns around quickly, an instant smile spreading across her face. 

"Octavia!" Both woman run towards the other, crashing in the middle for a tight embrace. It only takes a few moments for her to realize that Octavia and their friends were really on Sanctum and not on Bardo; they somehow escaped. "How-"

"It doesn't matter. All that does is that you're safe and we're all home." Clarke laughs lightly at Octavia's words, holding her tighter in her arms. 

After a few moments they pull away mutually to look one another over, both satisfied neither has any injuries they could see. They quickly embrace again, ignoring the world around them as they find this moment to be on their own, a family reunited. As they stand there wrapping their arms around the other, they don't see the man they both care for looking at them with a petrified expression. Clarke and Octavia were practically holding each other for dear life. An embrace that reminded him of the many he had shared with Clarke.

 _How had they gotten here?_ She always trusted and believed in him and now... now she didn't. Clarke was close but out of reach, seeking out the reassurance and comfort from his own sister. Bellamy hated himself for the pain he had caused Clarke. He hated the rift now drawn between them. But to him it wasn't entirely his fault. _How could she not see the motives for his actions?_ Bellamy wants one thing, to protect Clarke, Octavia, and his the rest of his family and friends. That has been his goal from the first day the landed on Earth and that mission hasn't changed.

He hated himself for the pain and trouble he had caused, but he hated Clarke for not understanding. _No!_ No he didn't hate Clarke, he could never. It was the complete opposite in fact. Bellamy simply hated how they didn't see eye to on this time, and now everything between them has changed again.

Clarke is embracing Octavia like the family that they always were, the family that they haven't been in so long. Bellamy's missed seeing that in them. He steps closer to them as the others embrace Clarke as well, only to step back when a body gets in his way. Miller shouts at him, shoving Bellamy away. 

"Hey! Back off!" He stands in between the path of Bellamy and Clarke and Octavia. They all look to him and step back before Miller turns around to be beside Clarke. "You okay? He didn't hurt you again, did he?" 

"I'm fine, don't worry." Clarke reassures him. Miller nods in acceptance before jumping when another round of loud blaring from the alarm rings though the palace.

"What the hell is this?" The two sisters break apart, hands lingering on each others as they look to a tied up Bill and his followers. All of which have fear and confusion edged in their faces. 

"This? This is a reckoning." Shediheda laughs deeply, making Clarke roll her eyes. 

Octavia stutters looking at the man she once knew as Russel Prime. She nudges Clarke with wide eyes looking for an explanation, and Clarke shakes her head. That'll have to wait for later. Right now they have a much bigger problem to deal with; the planet.

"We need to get going. Now!" Clarke pulls Octavia and gestures for the others to follow. They need to get to shelter before its too late. The toxin was already in the air. 

"You won't make it in time." They stop to look at the dark commander, a smirk evident on his face. "The reactor door is sealed. No one is getting in anytime soon."

Clarke curses under her breath before looking at her surrounding. There wasn't much to use to protect everyone from the red sun toxin. Cadogan and his followers were tied up already, but the others weren't. Sighing she turns to sheidheda, a reluctant expression on her face. 

"Stay here. Watch him." Clarke keeps her tone unamused and demanding, not leaving any room for discussion, but he doesn't get the message. 

"Excuse me? Ai nou teik orders kom yu." Clarke rolls her eyes and turns to face him. They were running out of time. 

"You want someone to challenge? Something to keep you amused and give you something to order around? Have at it. You think of yourself so high above humanity just like him. You think you're a damn God, just like him. The only difference is he makes people emotionless to find the light and end all wars for humanity. You on the other hand want nothing but chaos and power. Figure it out." 

Before he could even respond she takes Octavia and the others outside of the palace; they needed to be locked in the rooms with chains again of they were to survive again. They all make their way down the stairs of the palace and onto Sanctum ground, but it was too late. The others were getting anxious and impatient, just like Emori had with Murphy the first time. And the fear, depression, and regret was building up inside of Clarke and Octavia. Emotions were running high, the toxin was already taking its affect.

_Was this good enough? Was she?_

She left her people, her daughter on a planet they only just arrived in so she could save her friends. Now she's home to find the dead commander in a new host reigning over all over Sanctum. She shouldn't have left. She shouldn't have abandoned Madi and the others. Everything that was going wrong was Clarke's fault. People died because she wasn't there to protect them. Bellamy betrayed her because she wasn't worth as much as she thought. It was her fault! 

Death everywhere she goes. All because of her...

Clarke felt her head suddenly weigh more than it should, her vision becoming blurred as voices started coming from different places. Voices she knew perfectly, always chasing her in her dreams. She looked around for the source and there in front of the stairs were all the people she had killed or felt guilty about their deaths. Lexa and Finn were in front of the big entourage, standing out the most. _No. It wasn't possible... They were dead!_ Her eyes filled with tears looking at all the people who were walking towards her. 

_"You're a cancer, Clarke, you're to blame for the death of us all, you'll be to blame for the death of all your friends"_

They all repeated the same thing over and over again as they got closer. Clarke's eyes were fixed on the front, noticing Octavia kneeling on the ground, clutching her head.

Clarke vaugley heard Miller arguing with Bellamy and the others, or even Echo cursing in trig and growing angrier the more seconds passed. It wasn't until Octavia had started mumbling that Clarke shakes her head and takes a deep breath. 

_Octavia needs me. Snap out of it! Its not real._

But it was easier thought than done. Her haze of thoughts and emotions takes over again and before she knows it, her breathing becomes erratic. 

Octavia notices how Clarke's gaze suddenly went out of focus, it was just before her head filled with its own voices; her vision turning a shade of red. She grabbed her head in her hands and dropped the weight of her body to her knees. _No... Octavia, don't look..._ She began to think of all the people she had had killed in the bunker, all the warriors and thieves. All their voices joined together to form a strange distorted voice. 

_"You are Wonkru or you are the enemy of Wonkru. Choose."_

They would say over and over again, coming closer and closer to her body without any strength. She remembered in the back of her mind what her mother said when she was younger, _"Kill your demons, Octavia."_ whispered Aurora's voice into her memories. She looked up to find her eyes with Clarke's, both hands stretched out at the same time holding on to the present. 

"I am not afraid, I am not afraid... I'm not afraid" Octavia said with speed, trying to get Clarke to follow her example.

It takes a few moments for Clarke's breathing to slow and for her to listen and do the same. Both women mumble the phrase aloud over and over again until they can face reality again. When they do they are met with the of their friends around them attempting to get them out of the trance. In the end it does work. Clarke and Octavia take a few deep breaths before standing, turning to look at the chaos around them. 

Everyone was going crazy trying to call them and get them out of their previous trance. Then suddenly the arguments shifted to each other. Clarke and Octavia both crossed their eyes as they saw Raven on a rampage, fighting with Bellamy and Miller, while Echo had seemed to disappear. Clarke tried to stifle her growing anxiety at that fact, knowing the spies ever consistent hatred of her, and tries to focus on the others she can see. Hope and Jordan seemed to want to intervene to protect them from anything. However, it was too late. They all had been exposed, now the toxin was inside of them, and if they didn't get to the rooms soon to chain themselves up it would be complete chaos. Clarke helped Octavia up with her hands, slowly both of them turned to Raven and Bellamy, who hadn't stopped arguing yet. 

_What were they going to do? Everything seemed like a whirl wind happening so quickly, and they were too powerless to stop it..._

"You're just like Clarke! Always making everyone else suffer for your poor choices! Perfect team huh? I guess so!" Raven shouts as Miller pushes her away from Bellamy, but is wasn't so easy. Bellamy was pushing back to Raven and becoming angry at Miller as well for keeping Clarke and Octavia away form him. 

"We're the bad guys? How about you?! You're the one who helped torture Lincoln! You're the one with enough ego to fit a damn planet! YOU are the one who keeps us all in danger! I am doing what I can to save all of you! Like ALWAYS! Unlike Clarke I don't kill everyone in my way to do it!"

"HEY! DON'T TALK THAT WAY ABOUT CLARKE! Neither of you! You're both ungrateful! You've never thanked her. She's always protecting your miserable asses. And you don't deserve a damn thing from her!" shouted Miller with his chest pounding, looking around to see if he still had Clarke and Octavia protected. "THE GREAT KING REBEL! You left Clarke behind to die! And when you came down you didn't have the balls to leave a relationship you didn't care about! You just wanted to hurt her more! You practically killed her daughter, left her behind, and had her leave you in the fighting pit. You were the cause of it! I was there at her door when you told her what you were going to do for your 'family'. With friends like you... WHO NEEDS ENEMIES!?"

Everyone goes silent at Miller's outburst. His admissions were far from false, and even Bellamy and Raven knew it. But because of the red toxin their minds were not thinking clearly and everything they've buried down deep inside of them was beginning to resurface. 

"She's killed hundreds, if not thousands of people, Miller! Its her fault we're here in the first place! If she hadn't turned her back on us on Earth, we'd still be there. But no. Wanheda had to pick a fight and turn her back her family. AGAIN!"

Clarke looked around with tears in her eyes, she knew people hated her for her actions, but she would never expect Bellamy to attack her name like that. Octavia moved forward holding her arm tightly, looking at her brother with daggers and disgust. He never called her wanheda before, he was one of the only people to never say it, as if it were a curse, one he would never wish on her. But now its been said.

"YOU DECIDED TO ALLY YOURSELF WITH PIKE AND KILLED HUNDREDS OF INNOCENT PEOPLE! And after that, you chose to put the blame on Clarke's shoulders for leaving. You could have gone with her! But guess what? **YOU DIDN'T!** You left her alone too! You left her alone to die on the ground while you were up in space, you left her alone in front of Eligus, **and** you left her alone with a man we didn't know on an unknown planet. Because of you she was taken by the Primes and killed! You knew how important her blood is and you left her **alone**! And now you're doing it again by allying yourself with a man who wanted to kill us and you're blaming Clarke again!" Miller shouted again, looking at Bellamy's unfocused eyes before changing his mind about Raven. "And don't get me started on you, you damn hypocrite!"

As Miller, Bellamy, and Raven continue to argue mindlessly, Octavia sees small silent tears running down Clarke's cheeks. Bellamy betraying them was one thing, but calling her Wanheda was another entirely. It was one barrier he never crossed, that is until now. Octavia moves forward and wipes away the tears quickly and gently, both of them crossing an understanding gaze. She wasn't alone. As Octavia tries to reassure Clarke, she notices slightly how Hope and Jordan were getting closer to them from behind, looking around for any danger. The younger Blake ignore them for the time being and focuses on the woman in front of her. The woman on the brink of internal panic and despair.

"Clarke, look at me, you are Wanheda, and I am Blodreina. They are part of us, the person we become when our family was in danger. Our people. We did what we had to do. I would do anything for you, even be her again a thousand times. Don't let Wanheda define you, let her be a part of you. You are my sister, my family, and I do not fear you," whispered Octavia, soothing the voices that returned to Clarke's mind.

Clarke nods along as she listens to Octavia, trying to not let the words get to her as much. This wasn't Bellamy, not her Bellamy. It was the Red Sun toxin again, he didn't mean what he said. Wanheda was apart of who she was, but it never defined her as a person. Ever. Once out of her haze and thoughts, Clarke is suddenly surrounded by noise. Octavia and Raven were now the ones yelling instead of her and Miller.

"She has done nothing wrong! If anything she is the reason you're still even alive!"

"Bull shit! I kept myself alive! SHE killed Finn! SHE murdered an entire civilization and made a list of a hundred people who would be chosen to survive primfaya! SHE sided with McCreary and betrayed us all!"

"YOU tortured Lincoln! YOU gave Clarke the knife and told her to kill Lexa! If she did that they would have killed Clarke in return then our people would have been massacred! Clarke SAVED all of us! And **you** forced her to make that list! She did what she thought was best for her fucking child! Clarke does what she can to survive and save those she cares about. What have you done? Nothing but judge her for doing the best she can to save your ass! Along with **everyone** else! Clarke is NOT a monster!"

"Says the actual monster!" Raven shouts.

Octavia retorts with more aggression, stating she's changed her ways a long time ago. What Raven was talking about was the past and it would stay there. They've all done things they regret, its part of who they are. It shows how much they've grown as a person; Raven however has not done so. She's stayed the same and never changed once. The argument goes back and forth between the women while the others did the same.

Bellamy and Miller kept screaming at each other and pushing each other's bodies out of the way, though Clarke couldn't quite make out that argument with the others shouting as well. The strangest thing was that there was no trace of Hope or Jordan anymore; they had both suddenly disappeared. Everything felt as if it was upside down, nothing made any sense. 

As she stood there taking in everything and nothing at once, Clarke felt as if she was being watched, and yet didn't know why. She started looking around for something or someone, but saw nothing. That is until out of nowhere, Echo appears. She charged towards her with giant steps, her face filled with hate. Clarke knew what was coming and was not afraid, she was simply tired of letting them kick her down to make others feel better. It was over, she was done being put down. She is Clarke Griffin, also known as Wanheda, and she is done taking everyone's bull shit. 

Echo reached Clarke's height and began to measure her strength, she was watching her like a predator. Echo was bigger, taller, and more trained. However, while she was confident, Clarke was cunning. Clarke had learned from the best and trained for years, she knew perfectly how to win a fight without problems. 

"WANHEDA! How can Bellamy love someone so mediocre?" She said with a look of disgust stepping forward. 

"Why don't you look at yourself and tell me?" Clarke commented lightly, ignoring the fact Echo had said Bellamy loved her. She knew her easy going response would infuriate her. 

Just as she thought, Echo advanced towards her, grunting, and tries to grab her arms. Clarke felt her forearms being pulled, making her fall off balance. So with a strong yank she pulls her arms away from the cold hands of the spy, making the woman unbalanced in return, resulting in her to bend over. Clarke took the opportunity to retaliate and deliver a hard kick in her stomach, making her stagger more. She raises one of her legs to her neck, and with her right hand she grabs Echo's short hair. The spy stands up to maneuver her own blow, but Clarke avoids it. She swivels her body and moves the other leg up on the woman's other shoulder. She strongly pushes her body backwards turning in such a way that it counterbalanced the body of the spy. With that movement, Clarke did a somersault being supported on one knee leaving her two hands anchored to the ground. Echo, on the other hand, had flown away, lying on her back.

Clarke stood up and twisted her body just enough to see Echo get up even angrier than before. With a small smile Wanheda had been awakened, she was tired of this woman. Because of her she almost lost her whole family, Bellamy and Octavia almost died in her arms.

The first time they fought, Clarke held back what she could. She didn't want to harm the woman in honor of Bellamy, but now that was over. She was going to protect herself. 

Echo advanced again trying to hit Clarke's face with a clenched fist, however she missed. Clarke laughed a little as she dodged the blow. Her moves were less tactical and more full of rage. There was no way Echo could win like this. Clarke moving easily away only annoyed the spy more. This time it was Clarke who threw a fist knowing she would dodge it, so she quickly raised her leg enough to kick in the woman's face. She noticed how with that blow a trail of black blood began to fall from Echo's cheek. Echo tried to hit her several times with her fists, but Clarke stopped them by placing her forearms in the correct way. She was methodical and correct, Echo was rage and toughness. 

Tired of nonsense, Clarke launched a kick in the woman's stomach, making her bend forward to catch her breath; then, without wasting time, she advanced with a small jump and used her open hand to hit her opponent with force. The area Echo's throat leaving her breathless for a while. Clarke smiled harshly and and steps back, watching her next move.

Bored, she advanced and grabbed one of Echo's arms, dragging her through the sand until she placed her face down, she placed one of her boots on the spy's neck, allowing enough air to enter her lungs. Without letting go of her arm, she decided to support one of her knees on Echo's back and pull the arm up a bit more into the correct position. 

With a single sharp twist, Clarke felt the woman's shoulder disengage, so she let go of her and stood looking up at Echo. Her scream began echoing throughout the area they were in, and everyone seemed to have stopped a bit with their own shocked fights. Clarke looks up at Octavia who nodded with understanding and pride. Proud that Clarke had stood her ground and showed her worth. She was done being run over by everyone in her life. 

But as triumphant as it was to put Echo in her place, Raven started walking towards her furiously. And yet she didn't get far. Octavia had grabs her by her ponytail pulling her and throws her to the side, the sheer force knocking her off balance, making her fall to the ground underneath her. 

Clarke hoists Echo to her feet, which causes the spy to groan. Her dislocated shoulder bothering her with each movement.She tries to take Echo away to be chained again, much like before when they encountered the red sun the first time, but Echo's knees buckled from under her as she looses consciousness. Clarke sets her down and leaves her to lie on the ground to walk away to Octavia, but stops when a voice yells from behind her.

"Clarke that's enough! Haven't you hurt enough people?!" Bellamy shouts as he sees the altercation between her and the spy. He moves to step in, break them up, but is stopped by a large body in front of him.

"NO! Don't even think about it Blake!" Miller charges at Bellamy in defense, doing what he can to keep him away from Clarke. He nearly killed her once already during the first red sun and no one wanted to see that again.

Miller shoves Bellamy aside as Clarke moves away from Echo. He wasn't going to let him near her after all that he's done to them again. **To her.** Bellamy tries to protest as he keeps yelling to Clarke, grabbing her attention.

After leaving Echo's body unconscious on her back, Clarke walks over to where Raven was on the ground in front of Octavia. The two women exchanged an exasperated look as they heard Bellamy scream at Clarke. As everything got worse, Octavia kept Raven on the floor, they didn't need more problems at the moment. At least not from her. Clarke turns back to Bellamy to face him, Red toxin r not she was done listening to what he had to say.

"Shut the fuck up, Bellamy! Am I hurting anyone? NO! All I did was make her unconscious to keep her from hurting anyone else! I never hurt anyone without a reason. I do what I have to do to save **you**. All of you! I LOST PART OF MY HUMANITY PROTECTING YOU, YOU IDIOT! And yet you keep blaming me for everything. I'm not like your spy girlfriend, Bellamy. I don't play a character in front of you and then behind your back I'm still the same no matter where I am or who I'm with!"

"Echo and I are complicated, but I know her. She doesn't play a character, She-"

"YES SHE DOES! I guess no one told you how she tried to kill everyone in Bardo as revenge on your behalf. Because of her we lost Diyoza. And I guess no one told that she tried to kill me in front of my own daughter! Madi had to order her to stop!" cried Clarke, noticing how Bellamy halted all movement as she spoke. "Judging by your silence I'm guessing they didn't. You're seem happy enough to have proud to have a psychotic girlfriend and a fake family! But all I did was to knock her out, not kill her! If it were the other way around I would be dead! She is one less person who won't try to kill us all... AGAIN!"

Miller turned his body towards Clarke with a proud little smile, the two of them shared a look before he focuses back on Bellamy. Clarke scoffs, noting how he has nothing else to say. She turns away from him and walks over to the two women, who were still arguing, with strong strides, anger evident on her face.

"And you!" She address Raven. "There isn't much that Miller hasn't said already, but it's true. You are selfish, hypocritical and ungrateful. You hate me for doing what I have to do to keep everyone alive, and yet you think its okay to decide who deserves to be forgiven or hated. You forgave Echo but she was the one who betrayed us at Mount weather and led Bellamy into a trap in polis. SHE is part of the reason so many people died when Mount Weather self destructed. Echo is the reason Gina, your friend, and so many others are dead! She stabbed Octavia and left her to die as she fell off a cliff! Octavia almost DIED IN MY ARMS! And Echo tried to kill me on numerous occasions, but you don't seem to care do you? Instead the infamous Raven Reyes decides that a betraying, sociopathic spy, deserves more forgiveness than the rest. 

"You call her sister and family and yet turn your back on me! The person who was there for you most of all when I could be. The person who kept us all alive and saved you too many times to count. You say you created a family in space, and yet with Miller and Octavia were underground for 6 years they're still my family. You are not. You are hypocrite. You were never a good friend. You decided that I should kill Lexa even knowing that later they would kill me. It was not my fault what Finn did, he was just as crazy as you! I'm done being blamed for everything when you are no better!"

At the end of Clarke's speech, everyone stills, even Raven. She was right, they blamed her for their own actions and choices. Everyone looked to her to make the hard choices and judged her for her decisions when really, there was no good choice to make.

Clarke rolls her eyes and moves to grab Echo, taking her to one of the rooms in Sanctum. Octavia catches her drift and heaves Raven up to her feet, making her walk to the same room as her 'sister'. Miller grabs Bellamy's arm and takes him to another room, chaining him up like before. As they each go to different rooms, Clarke finds Hope and Jordan had already tied themselves up. The fighting from everyone was too much for them to want to handle, so, they took off and tied themselves up to be safe from the toxin.

The last to be chained was Octavia and Clarke. They held each others keys for the others so no one could break free. Even though Clarke and Octavia wouldn't try to hurt each other, it didn't mean they didn't have the temptation to break free and strangle the others.

Silence fills the room between them but it doesn't last long. The sheer pain and emotions written on their faces is as clear as day. Too much has happened and been said in such a short amount of time, and they needed to clear the air. Octavia was the first to speak out.

"I'm sorry about what Bellamy said, Clarke. I don't know what went through his mind when he called you that. I never heard him say it before.... Hell when anyone called you Wanheda he'd hit them and put them in their place. Its like he lost his mind for a minute." Octavia shakes her head as she remembers the way people treated Clarke back then. Her new title startling and leaving too much room for judgment. 

"You know.... Bellamy once told me told me that people died when I was in charge. And he was right. Its how I got my name as Wanheda." Clarke scoffs softly, remembering that day. It hurt then and it still does now. "And I don't like admitting it, but him calling me by that name isn't what hurts the most. It was when he accused me of leaving him alone and then betrayed me. Ready to turn me in to Pike. Then Cadogan... That was what hurt me the most." 

Octavia nods in agreement. Bellamy and Clarke have history of betraying each other, but its not like they wanted to hurt each other. In fact it was the oppose. And yet they've never said the words; at least until now. 

"I love him Octavia. He's... like a part of myself. And when he's gone, my world comes crashes down around me. And when betrayal sets in I- I don't know what to think." Whispered the blonde looking at the brunette with sad and sincere eyes. "Even with you. I've always thought of you as my sister, O, even though the things we did were hard. It was hard to hallucinate with you and Bellamy around, you help keep me centered. So when he said that... when you left me behind all those years ago... It was hard. You two, along with Madi, are the only people who can really hurt me. And after what Bellamy said... " Clarke trails off, unable to continue speaking. Her rambling ceased.

"Hey, its okay. I get it. What Bell did and said was wrong. What I did was wrong. You don't deserve everything thrown at you, Clarke, and I... I'm so sorry I left you alone all to deal with everything. I'm sorry for hurting you." Octavia's voice cracks as a single tear slips away. 

This was the moment when everything unsaid between them was going to be said. They needed this.

"You were my first real friend when we got to the ground. My best friend, my sister, and I ... I ruined everything because I didn't see how saving Bellamy by dropping a bomb would save more people... I didn't see that you were trying to protect your daughter from me, of all things, so you did what you had to do to help Madi survive." Octavia whispered in response,looking at Clarke directly with a small smile. "I love you, Clarke. You are my family, the only one I can consider to be true, along with Miller, Madi, Bellamy, and Hope. I would do anything for all of you." At her admission she goes silent, until a small smile pulls at her lips. "Now I see it. Now I understand why Lincoln never blamed you, he was also your people, your family too." 

Clarke sees the flash of sadness on Octavia. She hasn't spoken about her soulmate in years, if anything she avoided talking about him. But here she was, mentioning him in. Clarke was shocked to say the eats, and it registers to her then that she never had showed her regret for what happened. For what Pike had done because she wasn't there.

"I'm sorry about what happened to Lincoln, I know what it's like to lose someone you love in front of you. I should have been there for you and I wasn't... I'm sorry. But I did think of him as my family too. My people... I told him that once before I shot him in the shoulder to kill the assassin from Mount Weather that was hiding behind him. When he fell to his knees he didn't look at me like I was bad, he just smiled at me with pride instead."

Octavia chuckles softly, a fond smile on her face. It was nice remembering Lincoln they way they were. She and Clarke never talked about him after the Pike situation, and it was nice to air it all out now. Lincoln will forever be Octavia's other half, the love of her life and her soulmate. But she lost him, and Clarke thinks she's lost her too. The only difference was Bellamy was alive and Lincoln was not.

"Yeah that sounds like him."

Both woman laugh and continue to talk, distracting themselves from the outside danger while airing out everything between them. 

Hours pass by in a flash as they sit together, talking animatedly about everything and nothing at all. Octavia is the first to notice the harsh red hues of light from the sun fading into nothing from her view of the window. The red sun and its toxin had gone. She points this out to Clarke with a smile blossoming on her face before tossing her her key. Both woman release themselves from their restraints to seek out the others. The first was Bellamy and Miller. Both of them walk towards the room the two men were in and are met with a shocking sight. 

Miller was trying to get to Bellamy by saying things too quickly for her to comprehend, but Clarke's mind was elsewhere at the moment. Instead of focusing on what Miller was saying,she worried more about her best friend, her soul mate. Even if she was still angry with him, she could never not worry about him.

Bellamy was in one of the beds wrapped up in himself, looking like a scared little boy, but that wasn't the worst of the situation. He was crying, sobbing even, with shortness of breath. He was barely able to get enough air to fill his lungs. Bellamy's big hands were clenched into fists, covering almost his entire face.Clarke and Octavia shared a troubled look before rushing forward to Bellamy.

"Bellamy... Bellamy!" Clarke shouted, trying to push his hands away to see his face. 

"Big Brother!" Octavia shouted with her hands clutching both of her brother's cheeks in search of a wound. Luckily they find none visible. As they do he shouts and moves away, pushing Clarke from him

"DON'T COME NEAR ME, CLARKE! I'M ONLY GOING TO HURT YOU!" He cried out in desperation with his hoarse voice still huddled above himself.

Octavia directed her green eyes to Clarke desperately, she didn't know how to help her brother; the only one who could was Clarke, she always helped Bellamy. The blonde looks over at the younger Blake, reading her mind. The look in her eyes translates to her, and she understands immediately. _Help him!_ Clarke smiles a little at Octavia, trying to transmit tranquility to her. She nods to her, giving her the key to unlock Millers chains while she takes care of Bellamy. 

Slowly she brushes a few sweaty tufts off of Bellamy's forehead in a tender way. Feeling Clarke's little touch, he opens his eyes a little and lets his hands fall, still crying. 

"Shh... Bell, relax. Repeat after me..." She whispered, lowering her small hands to the freckled cheeks of the man in front of her. He slowly nods, trying to catch his breath as she was catches his attention. "It's me, okay? You're not going to hurt me. We're the heart and the head, remember?"

"I... I am..." he began to whisper in a choppy voice with unfocused eyes looking for something on Clarke's face. 

"Shhh... Just breathe with me. Slowly." she says, placing her hand on Bellamy's chest carefully, knowing he was in pain there. She feels his heart beating erratically beneath, making her own pang with hurt.

"I am the heart..." said Bellamy's hoarse voice looking up at her with his expressive, sweet brown eyes, but he looks so disheveled and small. 

"And I am the head. Good, keep going. Slowly, Bellamy..." Clarke stroked the cheek of the man she loves, knowing it did not belong to him, and never did. 

"I'm sorry... So much... All that my fake family did..." He tries to say in a broken voice, his eyes filling up with tears again. "Princess... You're not... I didn't mean what I said... Forgive me. Please! I... I would kill Echo and Raven myself if I had to. They had no right to hurt you, if I hadn't cut ties with them after what they did, what they said, things would have been so different. I'm so sorry Clarke. Please...Forgive me..." Bellamy plead, his words stuttering and coming out fast.

Clarke looks down at this, his words barely making sense in her mind. She knows he didn't really mean all that he said, it was just the toxin in his system, and yet part of it was true. Just like it had been before. As she's lost in thought two larger hands touch her cheeks, grabbing her attention.

Before she knew what was happening, Bellamy's lips were on hers in a passionate but sweet way. His lips were soft and cushioned, he had intertwined his lips with hers. It took Clarke a few seconds before she knew what was happening and her brain caught up with time. This was it. _Bellamy Blake was kissing her._ She had dreamed of this for years after primfaya, even so after she saw him one he came home. Clarke quickly let herself be carried away by Bellamy's lips, her hands rising to intertwine with the dark curls of the man in front of her. Both enjoyed the exchange for a few moments before an image came to Clarke's mind.

Echo.

The image of Bellamy kissing Echo in the desert while Clarke embraced her daughter. This wasn't right. He wasn't _her_ Bellamy. Not anymore. 

Clarke pulls away from Bellamy's lips quickly directing her gaze to Octavia's surprised eyes. She seemed to want to speak but with a simple nod from Clarke, she said nothing. Bellamy looked completely overwhelmed, staring into Clarke's face quickly. She knew he had gotten carried away and now he had to tell his girlfriend what happened. Bellamy had kissed her... Clarke was the other woman again. _So much for doing better._ With a loud sigh Clarke stands up and walks slowly out of the room, not once looking at anyone. She could only hear Bellamy's babbling behind her, but Clarke didn't want to stay to hear it. It was all too much to handle already, and she couldn't bare to hear him say it was a mistake, that he didn't see her that way.

_It was just the toxin. He didn't mean it. This wasn't real._

As Clarke repeats this to herself she continues to walk away. She needed to focus on the problem at hand, and right now Bellamy was not it. Instead she had two psychotic power hungry people in Sanctum palace to deal with. Assuming they haven't killed each other already...


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red sun toxin? Painful memories? Confessions? Fighting? Death? Lots of Angst? Fluff? Welcome to chapter 3!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> RetraidaEverywhere and I were devastated when we heard about 7x13. Along with everyone else in the fandom. What JRoth did was wrong in so many ways, but we're not gonna drag this out lol. To say the least season 7 continues to get worse, so we hope you all enjoy this fic and accept this as an au for the show on how things should be. 
> 
> We were all robbed and this fic makes up for that :) (Also, not, this is the longest chapter by far, but since its been so long since we've updated, we figured this would make up for lost time!)

Octavia watched as her brother made the decision to kiss Clarke, everything happening so quickly. She was quick and methodically while releasing Miller from his chains, and when he looked over her shoulder he completely stilled. Miller has his mouth open like a gaping fish. Curious, Octavia turned quickly to look at the scene in front of them. There was Bellamy talking to Clarke slowly, looking at her with sad, loving eyes, looking like a loving couple apologizing after a fight. What neither of them expected was for Bellamy to grab Clarke's face and kiss her, both of them began to kiss desperately. _Finally! My brother has the balls to kiss her!_ Octavia stares in a half smile, half jaw dropped expression.

What no one expected was that Clarke would quickly break away from him in a tense manner, looking everywhere but Bellamy. Octavia was confused as to why she pulled away. She knew Clarke was in love with Bellamy and vice versa, so why stop the kiss? But then an image appears to Octavia that hadn't before. Echo.

_He's still dating Echo and he just kissed Clarke. You fucking idiot!_

She turned her eyes to Clarke as she stood up quickly, the blonde woman shook her head and Octavia kept quiet. Once Clarke left the room, Octavia walked towards her brother looking at him seriously as she saw his bewildered eyes. He was very stupid and didn't know what he had done.

"So... that just happened."

"I... Shit... I knew I shouldn't have done that... She never felt that way about me..." 

"Bellamy, you're a bigger idiot than I thought. You just turned her into the other woman again!" Octavia shouted angrily looking into the brown eyes of the man in front of her, noting how her brother's features changed at times, noticing what his mistake had been.

"I... No... Echo and I broke up in Bardo. Although our relationship was broken from the moment Madi appeared in front of me..." he whispered, clasping his hands to his hair in a stressed manner.

"Then why did you treat her like the enemy and defend Echo? She wouldn't have ran off otherwise, Bellamy. You hurt her, betrayed her, again!, and now she thinks you're cheating on Echo with her! What the hell is going through that thick head of yours?!"

"I don't know, O! It was the red sun. I didn't mean what I said or did. I love Clarke! I do. Its why I gave Madi the flame and trusted Cadogan. To protect Clarke!"

"Well you did a great job of that didn't you?" Miller pipes up, making the Blake siblings look towards him. "Clarke already feels like shit, Bellamy and you had to make it worse. If you love her so damn much then why do you keep hurting her? Seriously do you have any idea how messed up she is right now? Clarke is human, Bellamy. And like everyone else she has a breaking point. And that breaking point is you! You stab her in the back and she breaks down. I've never seen Clarke fucking Griffin cry unless it had to do with you or someone dying. You abandon her left and right and NOW you're pretending like everything okay? Like you still care!?"

"I didn't mean to hurt her! I-" He stops and buries his face in his hands, the emotional turmoil of everything getting the bets of him. "It was a mistake. I regret it more than you know and I-I just... she..." He breaks off his sentence and chokes back a sob. No matter what he did he always lost the woman he loved.

_How can I be this damn stupid all the time?_

"Bell, you need to make thing right." Bellamy looks up to his sister and knows she's right. Too much has happened and the red sun helped nothing. Now Clarke may hate him forever and he needed to fix this. Fix one problem at a time. "You have to apologize and tell her the whole truth, Bell,. You've seen her die too many times, we don't all get second chances. I didn't have it with Lincoln, you should do something before it's too late."

"Okay." Bellamy stands and makes his way to the door only to stop when Octavia calls out to him.

"We should check on the others first, though. I need to make sure Hope is okay." Octavia says before he gets to far. He knows she's right, the others should be checked to be sure they we're alive.

He nods towards her and they all leave together in search of Echo, Raven, Hope, and Jordan. They stumble upon those from spacekru first. Both woman look towards the door and perk up when they see Bellamy.

"Bellamy." Echo sighs in relief, a bead of sweat on her head. Her shoulder was popped back into place, but it still hurt her to have to go through putting it back.

As both woman are look to him, he stands in silence, waiting for them to say more, an explanation, anything, to what had happened during the red sun; and yet they give none. Instead they look to him in waiting as they slightly tug at their restraints.

"Thank you for protecting us..." whispered Raven looking at him with her serious face trying to look innocent.

"I knew you still loved me. Clarke is crazy, look what she did to me!" shouted Echo pointing to her previously dislocated shoulder in anger.

Octavia snorted a small, sarcastic laugh and couldn't help but notice that as Miller rolled his eyes to Hope and Jordan, both young men shook their heads before moving away from the focus of the ensuing discussion.Bellamy, on the other hand, continued to look at the women in complete silence, wondering at what point in his life he came to respect them or even believe that he loved them as a family. He had deceived himself in such a way in the ring that when he came down to Earth he didn't know how to draw a line between his fictitious life and the real one by the side of his loved ones. He had been the misfortune of his real family and was short-sighted not to see it before ruining everything with the love of his life, his sister and his true friends.

"You're wrong." Both Echo and Raven look at him like he had just slapped them. He chuckles angrily and balls up his fist.

_How could they sit there and act as if nothing was wrong? As if Clarke was still the enemy?_

If it wasn't for her they all would have died a LONG time ago. She's scarified so much of her time, her body, and her soul for all of them. She killed an entire civilization, killed Emerson, helped Bellamy and the others figure out how to survive primfaya, she gave up the bunker for him! AND she survived alone for six years because they left her to die. She stayed behind FOR THEM! And then saved their asses from Eligius, the bomb, and the problems in Sanctum as well as Bard and Nakara! Clarke sacrifices over and over again for THEM and they have the audacity to treat her like trash? No! Bellamy won't stand for it any more.

_Spacekru was broken and family no longer._

"I'm done. With both of you!" The two jump back at his outburst, his words barely registering in his mind. "Clarke isn't crazy, nor is she the enemy for fucks sake! You two" He points at both of them, his eyes staring daggers, "Have put her through hell and back, push her to her limits and then turn your back on her when she breaks. She's saved you **countless** times, kept you alive, and here you are acting as if she's wrong for doing it."

"She is wrong, Bellamy!" Echo interjects. "If Clarke hadn't-"

"Hadn't what, Echo? Survived?" He squints at her, seeing her in a new light. He remembered what Clarke has said Echo did in Bardo and on Earth. If he had known sooner they would have broken up a long time ago.

"No... I mean... In a way, if she had died we would have saved ourselves a lot of trouble. Think about this, Bellamy. EVERYONE WANTS HER DEAD! That should mean something to you, but it's always Clarke..." says Echo boldly looking at him in anger. Now her character was beginning to fall in front of Bellamy.

Octavia began to squeeze her hands into fists, wanting to finish what Clarke had started in the red sun, Bellamy grabbed his sister's arm, redirecting her attention to him, with a sincere look it seemed that he was taking care of it.

_I_ _t's about time, for once you protect her from the snakes._

"Half the trouble, if not all of it, would have been saved if you had been the ones to stay behind" Bellamy's hoarse voice rose as his anger grew, how could they have the nerve to treat Clarke like that? "When we were at the ring, I cheated myself and put a sheet over my real family, and I didn't do it because I loved you more, IF I REALLY LOVED YOU AT ALL! I covered up my real family, I let myself think they never existed... BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT TO FACE THAT I HAD LOST THE MOST IMPORTANT PEOPLE IN MY LIFE!" Raven tightens her jaw and looks away while Echo simply scoffs in disbelief.

"Bullshit, Bellamy, you loved me, you still do. We both know Clarke is a heartless killer. I changed when I was on the ring with you and our people. Our family! I was just following orders, you know that..." whispered the spy trying to play the role of a helpless and frightened woman again. But Bellamy wasn't falling for it. Not this time.

"Good little Azgeda spy, doing what she's told..."

Bellamy scoffs at a similar conversation they had during the Sanctum Party when Clarke was dancing with Cilian. Even then, deep down, Bellamy knew things with Echo wouldn't have worked out. He knew. But then she told her sob story of her parents and childhood to rope him back in, but not this time. This time Bellamy won't fall for her vulnerable act again.

"That's not fair. You know that was my life. Since I was a child I did what I had to do."

"Like kill Ash?" Octavia speaks up, making everyone look at her, even Echo, though she pales like Earth's moon.

"Who's Ash?" Miller asks, noticing the sudden dead silence from Echo and her sick look.

"I don't know, but... she must have been pretty important. Important enough for the name to pop up into Clarke's head during the Red sun. While we were chained up and talking, she mentioned it. But... never went into detail." She explains before setting her eyes on Echo. "So... Who's Ash?"

"She's no one." Echo replies coldly, but the look in her eyes says otherwise.

"No one? Then... Why did Roan tell Clarke never to trust you? He told her that you weren't what you seemed, too good a spy, and that you knew how to play your characters..." Octavia whispered to Echo coldly, before noticing Bellamy's bewildered look.

"Who is it, Echo?" raised Bellamy's voice almost maniacally, questioning everything about his judgment. No wonder Clarke never approached her or him when Echo was around.

"Don't you trust me, Bellamy? After all these years... We know forgiveness better than anyone else. You love me and I love you..." the spy said in a tender voice, trying to distract those present.

"Bull shit! Forgiveness... love... that's something Clarke and I know best. Not us!" He practically shouts.

All of the memories of him and Clarke supporting and comforting each other come to the forefront of his mind and he can't help the warm feeling there. Clarke always forgave him for everything he's done; being responsible for the culling, war with grounders, Pike, giving Madi the flame, not being there for her to protect her from the Primes... Everything. Clarke always forgave him. And he forgave her.

Echo recoils form his outburst and turns her facade into anger. "I should have killed her when I had the chance." She mumbles, talking about Clarke. And they all know it.

"Come again?" Octavia pipes up, her own anger building. Miller notices her square her shoulders and tense up, ready to fight, and he grabs her arm. They couldn't get answers if she was dead. "And you call Clarke a heartless killer." She scoffs.

"That's because she is!! Why else would she be called the COMMANDER OF DEATH!?!?"

"Echo has a point." Raven says. "Clarke hasn't changed. We were supposed to do better and instead, she decided to do the same old thing. Kill and take over." Octavia scoffs and lunges forward, Miller almost not catching her in time. "Clarke killed the primes, got her own mother killed, and then took over Sanctum! She was going to execute Russel Prime out of vengeance! She burned down a building for fucks sake! How is that doing better?!"

"BECAUSE SHE DID IT FOR HER PEOPLE AND HER FAMILY!" Bellamy's rage fills the room as his body flushes red. His chest heaves as he tries to calm down,but hearing Echo and Rave made him sick. "Clarke fought to survive because we needed her. The primes tried to kill her to bring back Josephine. Josephine threatened to kill all of us if Clarke didn't die, and you know what? I made sure she didn't give up! Because the people that love her, that care, will want her to fight! She had every right to be pissed at Russel. He murdered her fucking mother!" Tears spill over his eyes as he remember Clarke's broke heart as she cred in their reunion embrace.

 _'Tell me.. tell me it was worth it.'_ She cried. _'Tell me... tell me we did better.'_

"Bellamy's right. And if you were paying attention, Reyes, Clarke was putting on a front and trying to be okay IMMEDIATELY after her mother's death, so she could take care of everyone else! So that she could help settle the chaos brewing between the children of Gabriel, Eligius prisoners, and Sanctum faithfuls."

"That doesn't sound like a heartless killer to me." Bellamy croaks. "The only one I see is sitting right in front of me." He looks to Echo as he says this. "Who the hell is Ash?"This really shouldn't bother him so much, this unknown name. But because of the clear discomfort and secret it is to Echo, he needs to know.

"It's NOBODY! Just like Clarke, she is nobody either, just a burden!" cried the spy with rage towards the Blake siblings.

"How about I tell you a little story?" commented the young Blake with a sly smile at Echo. The spy visibly tenses but says nothing. "Two azgeda girls training for their queen, but only one gets to live. Who wins?"

At this Echo clenches her jaw and glares daggers at Octavia, and yet curiosity edges in her eyes. How could she, or even Clarke for that matter, know any thing about Echo's past? Especially so far back. Bellamy, Miller, and even Raven looks between Echo and Octavia as if waiting for an explanation, and Octavia delivers. 

"Its simple really. Even if Clarke never went into detail about what she saw, but I can fill in the blanks myself. Roan said to never trust Echo fully. That she isn't who she pretends to be... and only one little girl came out of training that day... see where I'm getting at?" She raises a single brow but the spy doesn't bother replying, instead she gulps and lifts her chin in defiance.

"O, what are you saying?"

"I'm saying... Echo isn't really Echo. Are you...? Ash." Everyone turns quickly to Echo with gasps, never expecting the news.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She replies coldly with a numb expression. Octavia was right, she knew that, but she didn't want to give the satisfaction of confirming her words.

"No? Then... How do you explain your own king warning Clarke about you?" said young Blake, looking blankly into the other woman's eyes.

"He always had a soft spot for her, you all do, and I don't understand it" said the spy with disgust. "I don't know who Ash is."

"He had no soft spot, no weakness. Roan cared about Clarke, he was her friend. When the others abandoned her, he supported her and told her that someday we would be grateful. She told me, she told me what a good person Roan was and I would have loved to have known him. I wish you had died that day he cast you out of Azgeda and not him!" Octavia whispered with hate.

"Believe what you want, _Blodriegna_." Echo hisses as if the name was a curse. "Roan deserved what he got after I was banished. I was doing what I thought was best for my people and he condemned me for it. I say justice was served."

Octavia scoffs in anger, her blood boiling within. Even Bellamy was growing angrier as the seconds ticked by. "And Ash? Was that 'justice' too?"

"I don't know who she is!" Echo yells at Bellamy, clearly irritated about the girl being brought up over and over again.

"Wrong." Octavia exclaims. "You killed Echo, your friend, then the witness, and stole her identity so Nia wouldn't kill you!"

And suddenly everything dies down into nothing.Until Echo can no longer take the burning gaze from everyone.

"HOW DO YOU KNOW ALL THAT?" Azgeda's spy cried out in desperation, giving herself away completely. Octavia smiled mischievously and happily as she saw the whole truth coming out.

"As I said, Clarke did not give many details, she vaguely told me what she saw. Images of people in the middle of a forest on the border of Azgeda, and one of those people found was a dead girl, Echo. They had warned the youngest commander in history, Lexa, about what had happened. I guess you didn't know that Echo and Ash were the same age? Or that they had met before?" said Octavia with disdain looking at the spy to Raven. "Is Clarke still the heartless killer?"

Bellamy and Miller watched silently as Octavia left the room with a victorious smile. It was Bellamy, who stepped forward to look between the two women she considered family in some way. There was no denying the pure rage and betrayal they felt, particularly Bellamy. He looks up to the two woman, his jaw clenched. 

"You are no family of mine."

With that he leaves to follow his sister. They found everyone they needed to find and take care of after the red sun, now they needed to find Clarke.

**~~~**

Clarke's head was spinning with thoughts and emotions she didn't know how to react. Bellamy had kissed her... Bellamy Blake kissed her! But no, he didn't mean it. _Did he?_ _NO!_ Clarke shake her head repeatedly as she paces outside in Sanctum's garden. This wasn't real... this wasn't happening... It was the toxin. It had to be. Bellamy may be many things but he would never deliberately make her the other woman again,right? He knows how much it hurt Clarke when she learned that Finn had done it to her. Bellamy knows how heart broken she was, hence her extreme mood and always bossing everyone around. She was distracting herself from the pain like she always did.

That's it. Clarke needs a distraction.

As the thought occurs in her mind she looks up to Sanctum palace. Perfect. Cadogan and Shediheda were still there. or so she had hoped. She wasn't sure if they were tied up or not, the red sun's toxin had already begun to affect everyone by then. The only way to know for sure if they were alive was to see herself, and so she does. As Clarke opens the doors she met with a sight uncertainty. Both men were alive, surprisingly, but nothing was as she left it. More disciples were in the room, Murphy was no where to be found, the skull thrown was tossed aside while the anomaly was no longer floating.

And the two grabbing her utmost attention in front of her were two of the worst men in history arguing loudly, but this was no longer because of the red sun and its toxin. Without a second thought Clarke advanced towards the men interrupting any senseless discussion.

"STOP IT, BOTH OF YOU! NOW!" Wanheda shouted from the great hall door, she looked at the men with hatred and anger.

"You came back. I heard shouting outside" Sheidheda said theatrically with a slight laugh. "Your family is a disaster." Clarke rolls her eyes as she crosses her arms, clearly not wanting to have that discussion.

"A large part of my family is dead. Where's Murphy?" She says, looking at where he had been tied up before.

"Gone."He shrugs as if nothing in the world bothered him, which really only pissed her off more. Cadogan grumbles under his breath, his appearance similar to that of a soccer mom completely annoyed with her chaotic children.

"Like that's very specific?" She retorts with a raised brow and tilt of her head. Shediheda chuckles deeply in response, his once off leer at her form returning.

"He ran with the others for shelter. At least I'm assuming so. I don't hold all the answers, Wanheda. Just know I didn't kill him."

Clarke glares angrily in his direction as he rakes his eyes over her again. _This was getting ridiculous._ Tired of the dark commander's games, Clarke walked up to him with anger pouring out of her body. As she got closer he looked at her with smugness and a dark smile. In doing so it only pissed her off more. Cadogan scoffed at her rage and the savages cunning smirk. To him they were crazy, deranged, and Clarke has had enough of both of them. She turns to glare at Cadogan, moving more, but people in suits began to appear around them pointing guns at her and Sheidheda.

"I think I'm done with your games" he said with open arms pointing at the guards. "Where's the flame, Clarke?" She scoffs in response before replying.

"I'll never tell. You'll never know where it is so long as I draw breath. No one knows but me. Which means you can't kill me either. And there is no way in hell I'm letting you into my mind. I'd rather shoot myself in the head!" shouted Wanheda with a dark smile. "So... Do you think I'm still playing this game of **yours**?"

Cadoagan smirks and looks t his followers as they surround Clarke and shaidheda, encircling them. Shaidheda feels the shift, as his smirk grows sinister. He reaches swiftly behind him for a weapon, but before he could even blink, a tranquilizer is shot into his neck. Within seconds he was unconscious. Clarke takes a step back away from him as her eyes slowly shift to meet the Shepard.

"The same fate will be yours Clarke,that is to say, if you won't willingly lead us to the key. This 'game' you think I'm playing isn't a game at all. Its life or death. Existence versus extinction for the human race. We need the key, Clarke. And you are the one who can lead us to it. Comply willingly and no harm will come to you or your friends. Refuse, and well...the opposite will be occur."

"Gyon au soren yu, koken hedswisha seda!"

"We are not a cult. We are-"

"I really don't give a damn what you think you are!" As Clarke shouts, Cadogan's followers raise their weapons to her, their warning eminent.

"I wouldn't if I were y-"

"Clarke?!" Bellamy burst through the doors, his voice echoing.

He looks directly at her and nearly sighs in relief, she was alive. However, that was the only good news. She was surrounded by Bardoians in he lets while Cadogan watched on as if her were the all powerful being he portrays himself as. It takes everything in Bellamy's willpower to not punch the man in his face. Clarke had been right, Cadogan was a liar, a scammer, and cult leader. Everything he said was wrong. The final test of mankind was not what everyone thought it was, and Cadogan was wrong. Sure the light Bellamy saw in Ethera was something, but it doesn't legitimize Cadogan's belief.

Its all misinterpretation.

And yet Cadogan had no idea of Bellamy's revelation. Of his renewed awakening.

"Bellamy, good. So glad you could join us. Now perhaps you could assist me in convincing Clarke to show us the key."

Bellamy looks to him and then to Clarke, her stance tense and evading. They still needed to talk about that kiss; but now was definitely not the time. Cadgogan must sense Bellamy's internal turmoil because what he says next draws his attention.

"Remember, this is for all of us. For the survival of mankind. This will end all wars and we shall transcend into the light. This is for us all."

"Of course, my Shepard." As he says this Clarke scoffs and looks away, balling her fists by her side.Octavia arrives just as he says this and she steps back immediately.

"Bell what... what the hell are you doing?!?" She looks as he walks to Cadogan and is handed something discreetly; a gun. Octavia sees this and immediately looks to Clarke, both woman fuming. Before Octavia could make a move, her brother walks to Clarke and points the weapon at her, pleasing the Shepard.

"Tell us where the key is, Clarke." Cadogan says again, watching Bellamy and her, and yet she doesn't bat him an eye. Instead she keeps her gaze on Bellamy and the gun, her eyes swelling with tears, all on the brink of shedding. But she stops them.

"NO!" Cadogan sighs an shakes his head while Bellamy smirks.

"Once a brave princess, always a brave princess." Before she could comprehend his words, he tosses her the gun from his hand before dunking down. Clarke smiles in disbelief, a single tear falling, before she looks up again.

Octavia and Clarke exchanged a tired look that said a lot, with a small smile they both looked around. Clarke started counting men, behind Bill there were two with weapons, the others were carrying simple stunners, both found their looks again, but this time they had the same plan; they could handle all of them with their eyes closed. Their only concern, Bellamy, was that she would be safe.

Octavia was the one who scoured the waters for a weak spot among the guards, Bill was so full of himself against Clarke that he didn't see how she moved slowly towards his guards. Her gaze fell on Sheidheda's motionless body, there he had a sword, but it was far away, they would have to fight hand-to-hand.

With a small mischievous smile Octavia raised her hand in a straight form and threw a dry blow against the throat of the guard closest to her, with that movement she managed to remove the air from his lungs, taking advantage of the inertia, she raised her arm and with a dry blow executed by her elbow towards the guard's face, letting him fall on the ground completely unconscious.

At that moment, it was when chaos broke out.

Clarke imitated her movements, but she played with her legs too, kicking a guard while leaving another one unconscious.Octavia quickly advanced to one of the guards who was coming to get her. The guard launched a kick towards her stomach where she stopped it with both hands while deflecting the kick. The angry guard tried to punch her face, but she dodged him and deflected one of her bent arms into the man's face, effectively hitting him with her elbow, and he fell to the ground unconscious.

This time another guard advanced kicking towards Octavia's face, she grabbed his leg with both hands and turned his leg sharply, making his leg crackle in a sudden way, the guard's scream broke the tense silence of the air, creating a more dangerous atmosphere around them. Octavia had never let out all her potential in Bardo, she would not let them see how she really fought, now they were seeing it.Octavia looked up at the guard advancing towards her with a stun weapon, laughing slightly she grabbed the arm that the man had thrown. She hit the guard's stomach with her knee while turning his arm to the man's back in a jerky manner. Seeing the man crouching forward, she did a back flip with the arm in her hands, dislocating the man's shoulder and falling to her feet in front of Bill and the two armed guards.

The man who thought he was God was smiling wickedly at her, but she knew what was going to happen. Wanheda never missed a shot, quickly two casings were heard falling to the ground and seconds later both bodies of the guards were falling limp and hard. It was the Griffin-Blake family's moment to smile.

Cadogan notices and falters before stepping back. Each one was stepping towards him more. As the three get closer, a groan from behind surprises. Sheidheda was waking up. When he does he notices the blood shed and quickly looks to the living, blood splattered on them, the most was on Clarke and Octavia, but the young Blake isn't the one to catch his eye. He chuckles deeply and stands up with an inclined shake to his head. He really wasn't surprised at all.

"Wanhead, Wanhead, Wanhead... I see where you get the name."

Clarke turns to gaze at the dark commander for a moment, her concentration thrown off. She hand her family were in a room with two monsters, each on a different level of corrupt, and both needing to be handled. For good. 

As everyone passed their attention to Sheidheda, Octavia brought her hand to the ground where the dark commander's lost sword lay. She observed that no one was looking at it before she hurried forward to the man in white who was trying to take her family.A distant memory came upfront to her mind of a similar situation, a similar man. Pike tried to do the same as Cadogan, make peace, and as a result took her soul mate. Now Cadogan was after Clarke and Bellamy, and Octavia will be damned if either were hurt like Lincoln had been. This man would never take the other half of her brother, even if it was the last thing she did. 

Octavia watched as the man retreated in search of a way out, but she was smarter, she moved forward with speed towards the supposed God and pierced him with her sword like butter. She felt the thick, hot blood running down her hand and arm. Octavia raised her green eyes with a dark smile at the surprised man. Everyone around her now looked at them with surprise, but also with pride in Clarke's case.

"Remember, go into the light" Blodreina whispered ironically, pulling the sword from Bill's bowels before kicking him in the chest.Everyone watched as his inert body fell limp and a pool of blood began to form around him as he struggled to breathe.

"Fali! Du shof em op!" Sheidheda exclaims, grabbing everyone's attention. Clarke and Octavia scowl in response. "Though I expected the commander of Death herself to claim his life." his gaze wonders back to Clarke, his once dark leer back again. "Yu laik mo randzi den ai voudon, Wanheda."

As he says this Bellamy steps closer to Clarke, nearly shielding her from the dark commander, and everyone notices. Sheidheda chuckles in response as he looks round the now empty room. Now with Cadogan gone, his followers with no leader, change was afoot, and someone needed to step in to stabilize it. What kind of Heda could refuse? Certainly not the dark commander himself. That is too say, with all compliance, but he knows without a doubt he could never do so with the commander of death before him. As much as he had admired her, she and her people would be in his way, and he knows what he must do. Create an alliance or end her. 

Both thoughts please him, making a smirk appear on his face as he continues to look at her. Bellamy completely shields her then, and seethes with rage.

"Enough!" He shouts, causing the dark commander to laugh in amusement. 

"Or what, brawnwoda? Do you speak for Wanheda, or can she not speak for herself?" Bellamy fumes as he clenches his fists, not willing to back down. 

Clarke scoffs and rolls her eyes, clearly done with both men at the moment. This was not at all something she would have imagined herself in, certainly not again. Octavia felt the same sentiment as she chuckles lowly from behind and mumbles under her breath. 

"Her name is Clarke, not wanheda. And as far as I can see she's dealt with enough. No one has time for a wannabe commander who thinks he can stroll in from the dead and take over." 

Sheidheda rolls his eyes in response and sighs, clearly bored. The two go back and forth before he proclaims just that. They were getting no where with their argument, and a decision needed to be made. Union or death. There was no other option, and only Clarke could decide.

"I'm tired of speaking with you, natrona. Wanheda." He calls to Clarke and grabs her attention from Octavia. When she turns around Sheidheda smirks before speaking again. "Join me in permanent union and rule my side, or, meet your fate. Death claiming the commander of death."

"What?!" Clarke vaguely hears Octavia mumble under her breath how she is unsure who was more crazy, Cadogan or Sheidheda. Then again both had several screws loose in their minds, this was something on an entirely different level of insanity. 

"Not a chance!" Bellamy interjects, his voice echoing in the room.

He's lost Clarke countless amount of times, he couldn't survive loosing her again. She may be alive if she chose union, but she would never be the same again. Bellamy couldn't let her do this. He looks to her with pleading eyes, but she avoids him entirely. She's still angry about the kiss. _God I'm such an idiot!_

"I can speak for myself." She cocks a brow at him before looking to the dark commander, the disgust in her face evident. "And there is no way in hell I'd join you and rule by your side.

"Solo gomplei it is." He smirks. 

"That's how it's going to be" Clarke said looking at Sheidheda's dark face, she felt Bellamy walk strangely behind her back. 

"Then I suggest we prepare, Wanheda. There will be a large audience to pay witness." the commander's dark voice began to laugh as he slowly left the room. "They will take you to your room."He gestures to the few loyal warriors of wonkru as they walk through the doors. "Only one person can enter with you for preparation. Choose your sword wisely." 

Everyone saw Sheidheda walk out of the room with a big smile on his face. Clarke knew what she was up against, but something inside her told her that she had a broader understanding than she gave herself credit for. Octavia stood in front of her holding her face with a loving smile. 

"We will do well, you're a great at fighter, so don't sweat it. And I'll cover your back if they try to cheat." commented the young woman in front of her with affection. 

"Come on, O, I want us to prepare together" whispered Clarke, caressing her sister's hands. As the two woman step apart and turn away, a voice stops them. One of disbelief and frustration.

"You can't be serious. You're not going to do this Clarke. You're not going to fight that sadist to death!" shouted Bellamy advancing towards the two women in anger.Clarke scoffs and shakes her head, miffed at Bellamy's outburst. 

_He really thinks he has a say in this? After everything he's done?_

"I can and I will. You're in no position to tell me what I can or cannot do. Go back to your family, Bellamy. Worry about them while I take care of mine." she whispered in a hoarse voice looking at him with restrained anger. 

"YOU ARE MY FAMILY!" he cried even more angrily, raising his arms in desperation. 

"I stopped being your family the moment you left me for dead! You made it very clear before putting the flame in my daughter's head!" Bellamy flinches at the reminder as she continues, both his heart and her voice breaking. "Go away, Bellamy. I don't want to see you right now." she said methodically without looking at his face.

Bellamy does as he's told with sorrow edged in his features. He knew this was all wrong, he knew he shouldn't have hurt Clarke, betrayed her again, but to him he was doing the right thing. He told Cadogan about the fame to keep her alive, he put the chip in Madi to save Clarke, and primfaya... well leaving her behind was the hardest decision of his life. He knows- no he thinks- she is more angry at him for being with Echo than leaving her on Earth. They've already resolves their understanding, talked about their regrets, and embraced tightly to bid those horrible feelings away.

And now they were brought up again. 

Clarke is hurt, badly. And she's lashing out by pushing him away. Bellamy knows this, and yet it doesn't make anything easier. He needs to find a way to get through to her... And so he will. Bellamy Blake never gives up without a fight, and Clarke Griffin was worth all the fight he had.

Octavia watched the exchange in silence, she knew that her brother had hurt Clarke many times, more than she could count, and she always forgave him again. But this time it was very different, this time he hurt her by making her think that she was again the entertainment in a relationship; the other woman, and she felt that the first time with Finn. Now again because of Bellamy. _Her brother was a jerk. How could he not tell her he broke up with Echo?_

"I know, O... I was a little harsh.But he was the one who hurt me" whispers Clarke, looking at the door where people were waiting to get them ready. 

"No, Clarke, he deserves a good kick in the ass sometimes. He's a hypocrite and it needs to be pointed out." Clarke nods in agreement but doesn't look up, and Octavia knows why. "I hate Echo and that he was with her as much as you do. Trust me." said the brunette walking next to Clarke, both remaining silent. 

Wonkru took them to a room where there were different clothes and weapons, on top of a table there were different colored inks, both watched as everyone left the room in silence. Octavia began to walk around the room passing her hand through the different clothes."Should we start?" Clarke whispered with some trepidation, this might be the last time she would see her family.

**~~~**

As Clarke moves through the battle armor, Octavia helps her riffle though them. Both woman choose their own gear, ready for everything they can think of. Clarke wears black leather with a vest and chains, much like she had in Polis, while Octavia wears red and black leather with metal edged between the seems with a hood to hide her face in the crowd. Once dress, Clarke braids back Octavia's long brown hair to the style she once had when they first landed on Earth, just like Lincoln had done before. Once she finishes, Octavia does the same for Clarke, though with less exaggeration since her blonde hair was much shorter than it was in Polis. 

"You ready?" Octavia asks as she finishes, squeezing Clarke's shoulders for support. Her blond hair was tied back like it was when she first landed on earth, only with braids throughout her side to keep her hair out of her face. 

"As I'll ever be." Although she is putting up a front, the young Blake sees right through it. 

"Hey." She stops Clarke from walking away by reaching for her wrist, making her halt. "You're not alone, Clarke. You're a lot stronger than you think. Use your head to win, just like you always do. Its time to put Griffin aside and bring back Wanheda. The woman who fights with everything she has to keep her people safe." 

"Got it." Clarke nods tightly before squeezing Octavia's hand for a moment, a small reassurance. "And you do the same."

"For old time sake?" Clarke laughs at Octavia's words but agrees heartily. 

"Old time sake."

Octavia and Clarke walked slowly through the corridors of the palace, everything was in deadly silence, around them there was only darkness. Both women looked at each other at the same time with a slight smile before crossing the great doors of the palace. It was at that moment when all the silence went away, there in front of them were gathered all Wonkru, Clarke slowly looked through the crowd in search of someone he knew. 

"I'll be covering your back, be Wanheda and kick his ass. I love you sister." whispered Octavia putting on her black hair the hood of her tunic, completely hiding her face from the shadows, as well as her clothes and weapons. 

"Be careful, O, you know how warriors can be. I love you too, may we meet again, sister." said the blonde before she started to walk down the stairs smiling at the great crowd that praised her. 

Clarke was surprised to see that despite the years they still saw her as Wanheda, an unstoppable woman, as if she were a Goddess, they were far from right, but she would fight to free the world from worthless scum. She planted her gaze in the center of the courtyard where Russell's old body was, he looked at her as a predator, but she reciprocated with her icy gaze. 

She had to be strong, cold and calculating, she would do it for her family, for her daughter and then they would be free.

People began to separate, leaving a narrow corridor for her to walk through without problems, many of the people present caressed her shoulders as she passed, respectfully wishing the great Wanheda luck, it was poetic in a way, before they feared her, now they prayed for her. 

"Well, well... Wanheda has presented herself to her death sentence..." commented the man standing in front of her trying to make a show of power. 

"No one can defeat death... But death can take lives, and that's what I'm going to do with yours, FINISH IT!" cried Clarke with a hoarse voice, listening to the majority of people gathered applauding and shouting at her words, out of the corner of my eye she noticed how Octavia moved among the people without attracting attention, no one noticed her. 

"Wise words for a dead woman" cried the man, suddenly enraged. 

"Are we here to talk or to fight? Or maybe... you're just afraid of death" Clarke's voice was calm and serene, her smile grew a little bit before the man's irritated face, she saw the terror in his eyes for a few seconds before everything went silent again.

Both were standing in the middle of the place looking at each other with annoyance, everyone had remained silent waiting for the first movement. Clarke knew that it must not be her, that it would lead her to tire and leave her anger exposed, she must wait patiently for the Dark Commander to advance towards her small body. 

Clarke watched thoughtfully as the man in front of her played with the sword, he turned it on its axis with a sordid smile. But never under the guard of the other hand that hung lazily to one side, an old trick used to divert attention, smart. She raised a defiant eyebrow at him as she grabbed the handle of the sword that hung behind her back, she drew it creating a false distraction, and she noticed that the man's hand hid behind her back holding something.

Clarke dedicated a small smile to Russell, noticing how his arm was preparing to throw something at her, she quickly moved her hand away from the sword behind her and rolled across the sand, doing a small somersault to the right. Something metallic fell to her side as she stood up again facing the man, her eyes moved to the ground and there she found an axe. She grabbed the weapon he had thrown at her and drew her sword, her gaze turned to the man in front of her who was looking at her in shock. 

She placed her right arm in front of the central part of her body, in that hand she held the axe. Being left-handed, her greatest strength was in her left arm, something that her enemy would not take into account. Her left arm moved in front of her face keeping the sword in a horizontal position. Her cold blue eyes watched every movement of her opponent, he was looking for her weakness, she knew it, little did he know that after the torture she went through with the radiation and all that was done to her over the years, she did not have any physical pain, nothing he did against her body, could really harm her. So, she played her card and didn't put herself in the right position, that would make her look weak without really being weak, it worked. 

Tired of waiting, Malachi quickly advanced towards Clarke's small body, he raised his black sword and tried to hit her in the face. Laughing a little she simply stopped the blow with her own sword, creating a sudden hard metal sound. She decided to hit the man's stomach hard with the axe handle, causing him to lose some strength and stability. Clarke was the one who made the next move by raising her left arm in an attempt to hit the Commander's body, he stopped that blow with a smile on his face. The blonde quickly moved her right arm against his side, delivering a strong blow with the metal edge of the weapon to her opponent's ribs. 

He grunted at the sudden blow and began throwing hard stabs at Clarke's sword. She stopped each of the man's attacks with ease, tired of playing games and throwing the axe out of the sand, determined to keep her hand free for other uses and not waste her strength. She hit with her closed fist the bruised ribs of her opponent, leaving the man breathless, she bent her body, resting two hands on the ground and stretching one of her legs while turning a little, thus sweeping the man's feet and sending his whole body to the ground.

"FRAG EM OP!" the Commander shouted, clutching his chest, trying to take strong breaths of air.

Clarke saw several men advancing towards her from the crowd, she smiled a little towards the irony, however Malachi was as cowardly as the others. The blonde noticed how in the crowd behind two of the men Octavia's small body was advancing, revealing her cover, she removed her cape by throwing it to the ground and drew her sword. Octavia ran toward the two men and struck their knees as she crawled on hers. As the bodies of both men fell, Octavia thrust her sword through the chest of one while Clarke cut the throat of the other.

"Let's finish these fools off" Octavia said with a smile as she stood up.

Both women turned their bodies around to face seven men the size of Lincoln and Bellamy. They crossed their gazes, smiling at each other, before advancing quickly to attack their opponents. They might be big, but they were methodical and fast, where they were clumsy. Clarke and Octavia pierced the bodies of the first two men with their swords without problems, while with the remaining five they had to make a little more effort.

Clarke struck every blow she could against the men's stomachs, weakening them, before cutting their throats and noticing how the warm blood fell on their faces, also slipping through their hands into large crimson streams. Octavia, on the other hand, had fun cutting with the edge of her sword the legs and arms of her opponents, which created great splashes of blood on their skin and hair, but after the fun she pierced the chest of men with strength.

Soon around them, right under their feet were only the lifeless and inert bodies of Malachi's faithful guards, both women rose victoriously covered in blood. Clarke's black makeup was a mess of streams mixed with red stains, her hair was a mess of crimson and blond locks, her hands dripped warm drops on the sand but her position was not relaxed and her gaze was fixed on the man a few meters in front of her. Octavia, on the contrary, looked like the same woman who became a commander, her furious face looked through the crowd in search of anyone willing to attack her sister, she knew she was covered with blood but it had long since stopped worrying her.

Already tired of Malachi's games, Clarke grabbed the gun she was hiding behind her back, with speed she unlocked the gun and pointed it directly at the man's head in front of her, without waiting for more shooting, leaving a perfect hole between the man's two eyebrows. A stream of black blood fell down his face before slamming into the sand. Clarke's weapon was still in position, it was poetic to see how from the cannon came out a little smoke, the inert body of her enemy was in front of her and suddenly a great load was taken off her shoulders. 

Octavia noticed how Clarke's body relaxed a bit when she saw the inert body of the man who had been attacking her daughter and her friends, the same feeling of peace that she felt after Bill's death. With quick steps Octavia advanced towards the body of the blonde who put down her gun and turned towards her with a small smile. Clarke advanced towards the brunette finding herself in the middle of a desperate embrace with her sister, no one knew how much they had needed this. Around her, Wonkru, astonished, began to fall to their knees and hands over their weapons in front of them.

As they do so the all mumble a low chant. "Sheidheda no mo. Wanheda hedplei. Sheidheda no mo! Wanheda hedplei!"

Clarke and Octavia share a glance before raising their hand to silence everyone, and they do. Everyone stops chanting as they are signaled to stop. At their silence the two women share a glance before searching the crowd for their friends and family, but it wasn't that easy. Bellamy and the others were nowhere to be found, and this began to worry the women until they saw the group that belonged to their family rushing up the stairs looking on with anguished faces. 

Everyone advanced until they were in front of the two women covered with blood who were watching them in silence, the first one to fall on his knees was Miller leaving his weapon in front of him as he smiles at them with pride. Murphy and Emori followed his lead by putting funny faces in front of them, then it was Jackson together with Hope, Jordan and Gabriel left. Jordan had pride written all over his face like his parents, if only they could see the triumph. It was all over now. No more destruction or blood shed. Now they will have peace. 

In the background, only Raven and Echo were left looking at them with disgust, coldness and bewilderment at their friends' movements. The blood covering Clarke and Octavia shocked them, so had the violence. To them the Griffin- Blake group was always cold blooded killers, always deciding who lived and dies, and to them this fight proved that. Little did they know the true burden it was.

But it was and always will be for the ones they love.

The only ones left standing afar were Bellamy, and Madi with children unknown to them.But it doesn't take long for the little Griffin to make her way towards Clarke. Madi observed attentively how around her mother and Octavia all of Wonkru fell to their knees, not because she was a commander because of a chip in her head. Her mother was the true heroine, she always knew it, her mother was strong and fighting, she was the true commander. The girl could not help but run in front of the two women she admired most and hug them, even though they were covered with blood, they might seem tough, but they did everything for their family.

"You're okay." Clarke chuckles at this and holds her daughter tightly, glancing at Octavia as she nudges them.

"Of course I am, strikon." She felt Madi let go and leave her body smiling widely, something was hidden in that itchy smile. 

The girl stood next to Octavia and turned to look at Bellamy directly. The man in question scratched the back of his neck nervously, a little twitch he always had, cleared his throat and began to walk towards the women slowly. Both Octavia and Clarke were shocked, but Madi wasn't. She glances between them before taking her Auntie O's hand and walks away. As she does, Bellamy steps closer.

"Clarke-"

"Don't." She puts a stop to his words and starts to walk away swiftly back to Madi, but he stops her with his hand on her arm. It takes every once of courage in his body to not let her go even with the death glare she is giving him. 

"Please let me explain."

"There is nothing for you to say, Bellamy. You made your choice."

"You're right. I did. And I will never regret it." Clarke shakes her head in disbelief and scoffs. _Did her really juts admit he doesn't regret kissing her knowing he was still in a relationship with Echo?!_ Even in his attire it still wasn't enough for Clarke to not be angry with him, no matter how good he looked. But as if he read part of her mind he sighs and says, "Echo and I broke up. A while ago, actually. Way back in Bardo"

"What?" She says, stunned in place.

"Clarke I didn't-" He sighs again with a shake of his head before looking into her ocean blue eyes. "I didn't kiss you because of the red sun or to hurt you. I did it because.... because I love you." As he chokes the last three words, tears sprung in his eyes. He's felt this was for over a century and this is the first time he's ever said it to Clarke's face.

"You..." The words leave Clarke's lips as she tries to process the words he had finally said. Bellamy loves her. He kissed her because he loves her. Not as a friend, or relativity a best friends, but more...

_Bellamy loves her. Bellamy loves her. Bellamy loves her!_

"I know I was an asshole, for many years. At first when I met you and I treated you badly and calling you a privileged princess, but I was wrong I was so wrong, Clarke because you're not a privileged princess, you were always a fucking warrior queen." Whispered Bellamy's hoarse voice looking around before connecting his eyes with Wanheda's blue ones. 

"I... I was a coward over the years. I never told you the truth, I cheated you and then blamed you for saving us. When I left you behind in Praimfaya, it was the worst feeling in the world. It was like letting my heart die! Without you it won't work, and I... I took refuge in a loveless relationship with Echo. I let it cloud my judgment, making everyone around me believe that I had moved on, but the truth is I never did. I tried, then and I did the same with Gina, even though she was an incredible woman, it was never you, and she... She knew it." 

He kept going until he stood in front of Clarke and grabbed her little bloody hands as he looked into her tearful eyes. It was as if they were the only two left on Sanctum in this moment. The only two people left in the world.

"I was a coward on the ship, I was a coward again in Mount Weather, I was a coward again with ALIE and Pike, and not even at the end of the world I was able to tell you that I loved you! That I'm in love with you! I was hiding and it ended up killing me."

As he says this Clarke squeezes his hand lightly, hearing the crack in his voice. This was Bellamy, her Bellamy! Cadogan hadn't ruined his mind, Bellamy wasn't a traitor, he was hers. How could she not have seen this sooner? Before her mind could take over with questions, Bellamy's voice breaks her thoughts.

"When I came down to Earth again and saw you... My whole world was flipped upside down. You were alive and then in danger again. I betrayed you because I knew I still loved you and I had to do everything I could to keep you safe, despite everything and having a girlfriend, it was you. Its always you! I hated you for that, I tried to take away what you wanted most for my own good, to prove to myself that you no longer meant anything. But I never could... Even when I left you alone at the party... then you died in front of my eyes and... I lost my mind."

"Bell-"

"Clarke I PUNCHED YOUR CHEST!" he breaks. "I tried desperately to get you back, and I succeeded, then I left you and went back to Echo. Clarke that led to us being apart again and you trying to save the human race without me. Again!" 

Bellamy pulls at her hand to bring her closer to him, their bodies inches from each others. "I never betrayed you to hurt you. I was always the inside man to protect you and keep the ones I loved safe. I left Echo and my false family because I know who my real family is. Who my people really are." He shakes his head as his gaze lowers to the ground, his heart beating wildly in his chest. "I was on Cadogans side because I had to save you and Octavia, whatever the cost. You are the only thing that can harm me. You, O, and Madi."

Clarke could hardly fathom the words flying from Bellamy's lips. This was real, he was real. Bellamy didn't mean what he said during the Red sun, he wasn't on Cadogan's side, he broke up with Echo and ending ties with the toxicity of the others. 

Her mind swirled with only one thought- _Bellamy! Bellamy! Bellamy!_ This was real, he was real. And they were together, on the same page, with full understanding.

"Even though you three affect everything... its you who understands me. You're my other half, Clarke. The head to my heart and I loved you from the first day I saw you coming down that staircase screaming that the air was toxic. I love you and I will love you for the rest of my life... And if there is a life after this one, I will love you then."

Bellamy stops speaking for a moment before taking a deep breath, his close proximity now startling Clarke. She hadn't realized they were this close. That is to say until he exhales the breath he was holding. 

"What I mean by all this is..." He commented on bending over one knee while holding one of her hands, the other one went to take something from his pocket in a nervous way "Princess... I know I'm a mess, stubborn and grumpy. We have a hard past but we we prevail. Always. Even in our worst moments we always pull through, and I know things between us have been complicated but... Would you make me the happiest man in history by being my wife?"

Bellamy holds out Clarke's mother's ring with a desperate hope in his eyes. Both his and her heart beating frantically. This was still reality, no games or tricks. Bellamy was proposing.

"Bell... I..." whispered Clarke's tearful voice. 

What could she say...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation for Trig to English:
> 
> Gyon au soren yu, koken hedswisha seda!: Go float yourself crazy cult leader  
> Fali! Du shof em op!:Finally someone shut him up.  
> Yu laik mo randzi den ai voudon, Wanheda: You are more skilled than I thought. Wanheda.  
> brawnwoda: fool  
> natrona: Traitor  
> Frag em op: Kill her  
> Strikon: little one  
> Sheidheda no mo. Wanheda hedplei: Shaidheda no more. Wanheda rules /commands


	4. Epilogue

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This goes back to Bellamy's perspective on thing and what he and the others were up to while Octavia and Clarke were preparing/fighting Sheidheda during chapter 3. This develops near the end with Clarke's answer and more... ;)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some smut in this chapter, just heads up and warning. A lot goes on but there is fluff and reference to a prequel! We hope you all enjoy!!!  
> (Side note: Not Echo or Raven friendly)

When Clarke had accepted the challenge to face Sheidheda, Bellamy's world turned upside down while his heart beating wildly in his chest. He nearly lost her too many times, and far too recently, and now he may lose her again. Bellamy retired from the castle where two of the most important people in his life were, with sadness written all over his face. H knew Clarke was only pushing him away in momentary hurt, and she was right to put him in line. Bellamy had messed up and needed to find a way to make things right. But how?

As he stumbles around outside the palace he ran into a smaller figure while he was lost in thought. little does he know the small figure would recognize him. 

"Bellamy?" She says while analyzing his attire. It was Madi. Bellamy looks down at her before shaking his head, trying to get it together.

"Madi, hey." He says somberly, and she notices, but thats not the thing she is entirely concerned about at the moment.

"Uh..wh-what are you wearing?"She chuckles slightly with a confused knit in her brow. 

"Yeah Bellamy," Murphy says appearing from behind with Emori, Miller, Raven, and Echo in toe. "Whats with the robe?"

"Its a long story." Raven cuts in, her arms crossed over her chest. "Where's Wanheda and blodriegna?"

"You mean Clarke and Octavia?" He corrects her, annoyance evident in his voice. "They're gone. Shadiheda challenged them to solo gomplei and Clarke accepted. They're preparing now."

"WHAT!?! You can't be serious?" Miller freaks, panic setting in as he remembers the fighting pits, the grounder wars, and watching what happens when solo gomplei finishes out. It was a fight to the death with only one victor, and now it was between one of his closest friends and an evil resurrected commander.

"Of course she agreed. I'm not surprised. They're killers, they can't resists the power play." Echo scoffs while looking at the others. But the only emotion they convey is disbelief and anger.

"What?" Madi squeaks and Bellamy instantly tense. Echo and Raven have been out of line for too long, and he won't let them say anymore horrible things about Clarke, especially in front of her daughter.

"Thats enough!" he nearly shouts, startling the remaining delinquents and the azgeda spy. "Clarke and O are doing what they can to save us, not gain fucking power! They are the best women I know and I'll be damned if you keep talking about them the way you have been. You have NO right!"

"No right? She's insane for even agreeing to fight sheidheda in the first place!" Raven yells back, making Bellamy's anger boil.

"No, shes not. I may disagree with them putting their lives in danger, but I will NOT stand here and let you degrade their choice! They are doing this for their people, their friends, and for their families. For all of us! So don't stand there on your high horse and act like you're better than they are because you're not, Reyes. You think you can do better, make better choices than they can, but you don't have the guts to make the tough calls and carry the burden of the consequences. Not like Clarke or O. So save it and keep quiet!"

Murphy, Miller and Emori turned to face the two women they had once considered friends, the look of disbelief on their faces was enough to confuse them. After everything they have all been through together, after everything Clarke did for them, granted the McCreary incident wasn't a good situation, but she did so much better before AND after. She saved them all countless times, how could Raven, and even Echo, forget that?

Raven scoffs at Bellamy and starts to say something else, but Murphy cuts her off, his own anger rising to the surface.

"Don't you dare say anything against Clarke, Raven." She turns to look at him as he speaks, her chock clear. "If it wasn't for her we wouldn't be alive. It wasn't you who saved us by driving that ship into space, it was Clarke who stayed behind by manually aligning an antenna that you said would work! Did you know she got hit in Praimfaya? She had to rip the suit off her own blistered skin, hide in the lab for days without food, walk around in a desert for months, and go through bloody hell to try and survive."

It was evident among everyone the surprise they felt. All except Madi. The young Griffin had confided in Murphy about primfyaya and what happened to Clarke when they were in space. Clarke may not have told Madi everything that happened, but she did over hear her adoptive mother speak in detail over the radio on her bad days. Days when Clarke felt like giving up or started to lose hope. But she always pulled through in the end. 

That is to say until everyone came back down to Earth... Then came the chaos. And Murphy understood. He's the one who stopped Clarke from killing herself during the first Red Sun, and the image continued to haunt him to this day no matter how little he spoke of it.

"We've emaciated her, insulted her, and blamed her," Murphy continued to speak, "but if it wasn't for her, we would have died the first week on earth! I'm tired of hearing you judge her when you have more blood on your hands than she does! She was doing it for us, but you? You did it just for your own selfishness" whispered Murphy's hoarse voice in anger before he walked over to the other side.

He couldn't stand being around them anymore, it was too much. So much for family. And he wasn't the only one to feel the sense of betrayal either. So did everyone else.

"Clarke saved me when she gave me her radiation suit" Emori says before looking up, her eyes swelled with tears and skin red with anger. "She believed me when I gave up an innocent man and she injected herself with the night blood so her mother wouldn't experiment on me. Clarke is a good person. Yeah she's made mistakes, but so has everyone else. I could keep listing the things she did for me, but I don't want to. I don't want to argue with people who don't give their arm to be twisted, with selfish people who won't know how to thank. You are horrible, you are a shame" She exclaims before walking behind Murphy at great speed "By the way, Bellamy, your clothes are shit!"

That earned the first real, yet small, smile from the man in white. He did deserve that jab, he would admit. Besides, the disciple clothing wasn't comfortable either. He didn't have words to say in response before someone else spoke up. It was as if a circle of courage, rants, and support was shaping. Everyone was defending Clarke and her honor.

"Everything Emori and Murphy said, is true. I'm tired of repeating it, but I don't want you near them. Clarke and Octavia, and everyone else here. You two don't deserve their forgiveness or protection!" Miller's voice cried out in anger at the two women in front of him.

Both were taken back and put off at the same time. Everyone was against them and their opinion. No one agreed with what they had thought or had to say. To them Clarke and Octavia were still good. They were still family. 

"Clarke was always a heroine." Hope's voice rings out in the unnerving silence. "My auntie O knows, my mother knew it. Both supported and admired her." She looks to Echo as she speaks her next words, disdain dripping in her voice. 

Normally Hope wouldn't be so forthcoming, but she was tired of the drama and everyone's shit. These were not the people her Aunt had spoken so highly of. These were natronas.

"You are just jealous, which by the way is really shallow. You will never be enough and it is because you or your nonstop selfishness. I never trusted you Echo,and I was right to do so. Don't come near my family!" shouted Hope before looking at Jordan who watched in silence with disappointment written all over his face. An unsilent agreement was made to where he would speak next. 

"My parents said that Clarke was the best of all of you, a great brain that set everything in motion. A person who bore the burden so that we would be happy, and that Bellamy was her heart. The only one who allowed himself to love publicly, also Madi and Octavia, but Bellamy would always be Clarke's weakness, they were destined. And Clarke will always do what she needs to do to save everyone. She isn't crazy or a killer. Neither is Octavia. They're human beings with pasts and mistakes. That doesn't make either of you better than them. My parents would be disappointed in you."

It was Jordan's voice that hit the women the hardest. He had never liked Echo in his parents' stories, she was too out of place and untrustworthy, not matter how much they tried to say she changed. It was obvious that she never did. And Raven, well she was just smart. She was helpful, yes, but her big brain always got in the way somehow, which tore any present rift anywhere between people and situations, that much worse. Monty and Harper were tired of the same outcomes with different problems, it was why the decided the fate they did. If they were alive today, they would hate to see what their friends had become.

As Bellamy watched Hope and Jordan retreat behind the others on a path unknown to him, he felt the small presence at his side vent Griffin's anger at times.  
  
"You can think what you want, but Clarke and Octavia are predictable! They do the same thing over and over again!" Echo nearly shouts. "They make mistakes, get innocent people killed, and then apologize and act like it never happened."  
  
"Echo's right. They're never going to change. How can you stand there and pretend like nothing wrong has happened? Clarke and Octavia are the monsters here, not us! If Monty and Harper were here they would be ashamed of them, not us. You need us, not them."  
  
"How dare you treat my mother and Aunt Octavia like this? You're nobody here, we don't need you! We can do everything without you perfectly fine." Madi spews, her anger boiling to the surface.   
  
She's seen the hell Clarke has been through and lives with. She has seen her struggle and mourn and fight to survive, only to be hurt and betrayed when her friends came back to Earth. They risked her life and then blamed Clarke. If the others were here they would never stand for this. Clarke and Octavia deserved better recognition than this.  
  
"Monty was smarter than your Raven, now so is his son. You're not untouchable." She turns to Echo with clenched fist, startling Bellamy behind her. For a moment he fears she may actually attack the spy. "And Echo... You've always set out to kill Clarke. And you know why? Its because you were jealous! Jealous of Roan's love for her and how he treated her more like family than he ever did you. When Clarke walked away he understood. When you broke the rules to help him he banished you, Ash."  
  
Echo startles at the name once more and seethes with anger. But she shouldn't be too surprised, Madi did have the flame and access to other commanders. It was obvious they told her who Echo really was. No wonder the child distanced from her and always stayed by Bellamy's side after the Prime situation. She never trusted Echo to begin with...  
  
"You saw that Bellamy was her weakness and you went after him. You tried to break Clarke, and you did. You managed to separate my mother and Bellamy, just not forever. And you won't have the opportunity again. Stay away from my family. They are my people. I may not be a commander anymore, but my mother will be, and auntie Octavia and I will support her."  
  
"You can't support the dead, little natblida." Echo mumbles.  
  
"Clarke won't die, she'll survive! If I have to kill you with my own hands, I won't hesitate! I am Wanheda's daughter, and I trained with Blodreina. She is my aunt, and I have in me the wisdom of the old commanders. I may be small but I can kick your asses! Don't talk to us again, you disgust me spy. And Raven? I expected more from you. I thought you were smart? But now I realize... you're nobody. " said the angry voice of young Griffin looking with her cold blue eyes at the two women.   
  
"What makes you think she'll win? Your mother can't fight" said the spy. To her Clarke and Octavia would die in the fight against sheidheda, but as always she underestimates the Griffin's and the Blake's.  
  
"Because she and Octavia are better than you." Madi says with confidence. "I'm not the only one with the wisdom of the commanders in my head. Clarke not only has their wisdom, but she trained with Roan, Octavia and Lincoln, and Bellamy taught her to shoot. She never misses. We were alone for 6 years and she knew all the fighting tactics from all the clans. You think Clarke won't win because she didn't kill you in Shadow Valley? But you're wrong. She didn't want to hurt you, but that doesn't mean she couldn't kill you." whispered the girl again before looking at Bellamy. "Decide who your family is, Bellamy."   
  
And within an instant he did.  
  
Bellamy kneels beside Madi and places his hands on either side of her shoulders before looking into her familiar blue eyes, so similar to Clarke's it was uncanny. Madi may not biologically be Clarke'es, but if no one did the math then they wouldn't be able to deny the fact she could have been.  
  
"I'm with you all the way." His sincerity touches her enough to make her believe him. Madi throws her arms around his neck much like she had before when he had told her Clarke had dies, except this time was different. This time it wasn't to mourn or have a shoulder to cry on, it was acceptance and warmth.

"Good. Now come on, you need to change out of that dress. Its weird." She scrunches up her nose at his white disciple robe before pulling at his hand to make him follow. 

Bellamy lowly grumbles under his breath at her comment and the snickers of laughter from behind him from the others. They too follow Bellamy and Madi from the palace all the way to the out skirts of Sanctum's land. All the way to the farmhouse. Madi observed for a few seconds the white tunic that Bellamy was wearing, no doubt it was an absurd thing that didn't fit him. After all of the stories and drawing Clarke had done of Bellamy over the years, seeing him like this was too unreal. He needed his familiarity back. For Madi's sake as well as for Clarke's.

Miller began to laugh out loud at the words of young Griffin, no doubt one of three women who could embarrass and kick Bellamy around. 

"Blake, why did you betray Clarke?" asked Miller's voice in a serious way, walking with the rest of his family. 

"I never betrayed her, Miller. Clarke, Octavia, and Madi will always be my priority, everyone knows that. For a few moments I thought I could protect them by being the man on the inside, again." commented the voice of the older Blake as his mind drifted to the two women who should be preparing for a fight that would end with many deaths, he hoped it would not be them.

For too many years he had worried after the two. At first it was only Octavia he dedicated himself to protect, but slowly Clarke made her way into his heart and Bellamy's instinctual need kicked in. Then came Madi and he knew he was a goner the moment they met. Clarke's daughter or not, he was going to keep her safe.

Soon, Bellamy found himself standing in front of a large house surrounded by trees, it seemed to be taken from an old history book, a large house well lit by the rays of the sun. He watched as all of his friends began to climb the porch stairs, talking animatedly. There at the door they were greeted by a dog that ran directly to the girl next to them, both of whom seemed happy to jump on the grass. 

"Bellamy, this is Picasso, Picasso, this is Bellamy." She lower her voice but not enough to not be heard by Bellamy himself as she talks to the dog. "Be nice to him, he takes care of mommy." whispered young Griffin kneeling in front of the dog in complete peace. 

Picasso wags his tail and barks softly in response before nudging Bellamy's hand with his nose. The Blake laughs lightly and scratches behind Picasso's ear, not believing the feeling of the soft fur. He's never seen a dog before, let alone been this close to one. It was strange, but nice. Picasso panted before running back to Madi and rolling a ball towards her, the ask obvious. Play time.

"One sec, okay?" As if understanding the dog ran to Miller and drops the ball in front of him. The man laughs and reaches down for it to toss while Madi lead Bellamy inside the house. "Come on, this way."

She leads him to Clarke's room,one chosen previously by Madi, and rummages through a small box by the bed. It was all that was left from shadow valley. Everything Clarke had kept for sentimentality and peace. Some were little trinkets Madi made during the six years on Earth, others were little sketch books, tech from Arkadia, and some clothes. Much to Bellamy's surprise not all of it was her and Madi's clothes. Some of it was his own. 

"Is that-?" he trails off as Madi hands over he leather material, making his breath catch. "Clarke kept this?" 

"Yeah, she did." Madi laughs. "She slept with it sometimes on her bad days. She said it made her feel closer to you."

Bellamy blinks, not knowing what to say, before he looks back down. It was his old guard jacket. The same one he had worn from the very beginning. And Clarke found it and kept it all of these years. He watched in silence as Madi pulled out more of his old clothes from the trunk, the last clothes he wore on Earth before the Praimfaya happened. His old light brown shirt, his black charge pants and guard boots, his eyes went to the belt he also took out of the trunk, that belt where he had long ago kept his gun and his radio. 

"The gun, it's gone. Clarke carries it all the time. But this is all we found..." whispered Madi's voice with a sweet smile towards him. 

"She kept all this... despite everything," said Bellamy's hoarse voice, feeling his throat close at times. 

"Yes. She said that if she closed her eyes she could still smell you on the jacket or T-shirt, it was like having you around for those six years... She didn't take it out again since you came down, but... Considering that you traded her for Echo, it makes sense" said the girl as she began to walk to the door. 

"I never traded her, Madi. She's the only woman I love, she always was..." he commented with a broken voice. 

"Then... Why are you still with Echo? Why didn't you leave that relationship when you saw that she was still alive?" the girl turned to him with a sincere look. "You destroyed her Bellamy. Echo was never a good person, and you left her aside for her. It was as if Clarke was nothing to you, and instead she let me go to war, for you. She threatened the life of humanity because she couldn't shoot you. She stayed behind in a wave of radiation, when her skin was burning, just to be able to die peacefully knowing that YOU would live. She made me believe that you would always protect us, that you were a great man and you left us, instead, you came back, and left her alone. Is that fair? " said the girl before leaving him alone with his thoughts.

 _So this was preteen rage and attitude?_ Bellamy thought before shaking it off. She was right. He should have left Echo the second he found out she was still alive. For years he mourned and went insane on the Ring, thinking of nothing but her. He didn't talk to Echo for three years and they were only together for one. And yet he let that minor relationship between him and her nearly destroy everything he had with Clarke in a matter of days. _How could he have let this get so far?_

They were all right. Echo hasn't changed and never would. She was always against Clarke no matter what, even more so when she was near him. The only reason Echo asked when they would get revenge against the Primes for 'killing' Clarke was because she knew how important Clarke was to Bellamy and Echo was ready for a a fight. Typical azgeda spy.

Bellamy was completely and utterly blind for so long, until he thought he lost Clarke or good. When he found out what the Primes had done it was over. He would have killed them all if he thought Clarke would have supported him, but she wouldn't. That wasn't dong better. This was. 

They all have been through too much in recent years and it was time to hold up their promise to Monty and Harper and do better. Be better. It was time to be at peace. Once Clarke wins against Sheidheda, Bellamy will finally confess it all. Everything he has felt towards her since the beginning. He won't let her get away from his again.

"You're right, Madi. It isn't fair. I should have done a lot of things differently when it comes to Clarke but I didn't. Now I have to live with that." Madi looks at him skeptically as he continues. "I'm done running and hiding how I feel about her. I love Clarke, a lot, and I.." He chokes up. "I can't keep going like this. She means everything to me and I won't stand by and live not telling her how I feel. I'm sorry for everything I put you two through, but I promise it will never happen again."

"And what are you going to do, Bellamy?" Madi's voice rose a little, as she looked at him roughly. "YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT BEFORE! I asked you who your family was, you chose us, but you didn't choose her. How can I ever trust you with my mother again?" the girl whispered angrily in front of him, no doubt she could pass for Clarke's daughter, and his own daughter. She made the same angry face as Octavia did when she was younger. 

"I ended it with Echo in Bardo, Madi, but our relationship had ended much earlier" he said calmly, bending over the young woman. "Your mother is the love of my life, she is my brave princess. That has never changed. I will never leave you, Octavia, or Clarke ever again. You are my family, nothing else matters."

"You promise?" whispered the girl's tearful voice, trying not to let her lower lip tremble. 

"I promise, Madi. I will never leave Clarke, and most importantly, I will never leave you alone. You may not be my biological daughter... But I hope you can see me as your father someday" said the man, holding the girl's face as he noticed silent tears streaming down her face, just as they did her mother.

Madi rushes in to embrace him, squeezing him tightly. Bellamy returns the gesture with his whole heart before she pulls away. There was something mischievous in her eyes this time, a plan, but she never voiced it. And yet it was as clear as day to Bellamy. Like Clarke it was obvious with one look in Madi's eyes she was planning something. Like mother like daughter. 

"Get changed and then come outside. I wanna show you something."

"Show me what?" Normally a 13 year old, but whatever her intentions are puts Bellamy on edge. Didn't they just have a heart to heart? She wasn't going to hit him right? As he thinks this, she laughs. 

"Stop worrying, its nothing bad. Its good actually. Just hurry!" Madi quickly rushes out of Clarke's room with a smile on her face as she yells to Bellamy on her way out.

As Bellamy took off his uncomfortable white clothes and put on his old clothes, he could finally begin to feel like himself. His mind was instead focused on the words of the young Griffin, Clarke had even slept in these clothes, he took the jacket to his nose and there was the perfect blend of their smells, what he would give to have this every day of his life. He would have that smell every day of his life. Determined, he ran his hands through his hair stirring it up a bit more, before quickly walking down the stairs and into the little body waiting on the porch. 

"Finally, you are so slow," said the young woman, holding his big hand. 

"Where are we going, Madi?" he commented hastily trying to keep up with the girl. 

Instead of answering him she looks over her shoulder before pulling on him again. Picasso notices them and barks before chasing them. Madi laughs but keeps going, practically dragging Bellamy behind her. When they finally stop he leans forward on his knees to catch his breath. Madi looks to him with a raised brow and he lifts one finger while trying to breath. 

"Not. One.. word." As he says this she laughs and gets down on her knees to move around some leaves and dirt.

"And Clarke said you were fit..." whispered the girl in a funny way. 

"I'm getting older, Madi. It's spoiling the body," he said a bit defensively. 

"You're... About 30 years old, Bellamy? Not 60. Soon the Griffin-Blake women will get you in shape again," she said as she dug in the dirt. 

Slowly he bent down beside her, watching the pile of dirt she was digging up in complete concentration. Picasso helps from beside her and soon something glistens in the light from the sun. The symbol of the flame comes into view and for a moment Bellamy is confused. Why would Madi show him this?

"Clarke buried it here for safe keeping. To keep it hidden but close by for safe measure."

"Its destroyed..." He leans closer and reaches his hand in the ground to pick it up, but it isn't the only thing buried in the ground. As he grabs the flame his hand grazes against a sliver chain and something round. Abby and Jack's rings. Bellamy glances at Madi before snatching them up. "Why did Clarke..?"

"It hurt her too much to be reminded of her mom. They're a symbol of what she lost." Bellamy looks to Madi as she says this with hurt in his heart. "But maybe, one day, they could be a symbol of love again."

The girl looked at him after saying that phrase with some fun and seriousness. Bellamy looked down at the rings that were now in his hands, no doubt they were beautiful and old pieces, his mother never had anything like them, slowly passing his fingers through them leaving the surface clean. His eyes were fixed on the inside of the biggest ring, was a small heart engraved there, it seemed to be handmade. 

"Heart and head" he whispered in complete concentration. "Clarke will always have my heart..." he said to himself, although that didn't stop Madi from listening to him.

"Then maybe its time to do something about it." Madi nudges his shoulder with a knowing look. She was right. He needed to do something. Now.

Bellamy smirks before nudging back. "Come on, lets go." 

They get the others before heading back to Sanctum. When they arrive Clarke and Octavia are soaked in red. Sheidheda was dead and so were several others. It was clear what happened, Sheidheda tried to chest and Octavia stepped in to help Clarke. They've always had each others back, even when they didn't see eye to eye. 

Bellamy smiles to himself at the thought before watching Madi rush into Clarke's arms. The mother gratefully envelops her in the embrace as she holds her tight.This was family, true family. Now it was time for Bellamy to step up and be included once more.

As he does Clarke was unhappy, but after a heart felt conversation and bearing his heart out, she started to be herself again. She saw Bellamy for who he has always been; her heart. He gives a speech and tumbles over his words before finally clarifying the purpose of his statements. 

"What I mean by all this is..." He commented on bending over one knee while holding one of her hands, the other one went to take something from his pocket in a nervous way "Princess... I know I'm a mess, stubborn and grumpy. We have a hard past but we we prevail. Always. Even in our worst moments we always pull through, and I know things between us have been complicated but... Would you make me the happiest man in history by being my wife?"

Bellamy holds out Clarke's mother's ring with a desperate hope in his eyes. Both his and her heart beating frantically. This was still reality, no games or tricks. Bellamy was proposing.

"Bell... I..." whispered Clarke's tearful voice.

What could she say...? 

Just as Bellamy began to nervous and question his timing Clarke wraps her arms around his neck as she pulls his lips to hers in a fierce kiss. Small whooping and shouts come from around them, making the two smile and break apart. 

"Yes!" 

As if Bellamy's heart couldn't grow more in love with this woman, she says the one word that will forever change their lives. She said yes. 

Clarke observed Bellamy's beautiful face after the kiss, laughing and noticing how a small body crashed into them screaming intelligible words. Her gaze went to the body of Octavia who was looking at them lovingly. 

"This is something I never thought I would see," she whispered, laughing with tears in her eyes. The blonde gestured her head toward the brunette to join them in the family embrace. Octavia ran straight into the open arms of her family, crying openly now. 

"Well, well... The Rebel King finally kneels before our Queen," says Miller's voice above their heads, laughing openly. 

"It's about time, Blake, six years of listening to you wail on the ring... Long time coming," Murphy said laughing with Emori. 

"Aunt O, you always knew you'd end up like this, congratulations," whispered Hope as she clapped. 

"What my parents would give to see this, they must be celebrating with Uncle Jasper, finally Bellarke!" cried Jordan in the air before laughing with the rest.

Some heavy and meticulous steps approached the small family on the floor, breaking the embrace, all looked towards Indra, who was observing them with seriousness but happiness drawn in her eyes. 

"Sorry to interrupt, but Wonkru decided who will be their Heda, unanimously," said the woman strongly. 

Octavia and Clarke stood up quickly, hiding Madi's little body behind them, while Bellamy advanced a little, in case he had to protect his little family. The surprising thing was how all their friends stood behind them supporting any decision, except Echo and Raven who looked at them as if they were completely crazy. 

"Speak, Indra" indicated Octavia's harsh voice. 

"Wonkru decided that the best commander was always with us," whispered the woman looking at the blonde. "A commander cares for her people, a commander fights for them, brings death upon their enemies, all commanders chose you Wanheda. All praised you, even Lexa Kom Trikru knelt in front of you once. That is why we chose you."

Everyone looks to Clarke, including Bellamy and Madi. They look to her expecting an answer. Will she accept the title as Heda, or will she refuse? 

Clarke glances at her family before turning to Indra, her answer simple. "I accept."

Wonkru cheers before kneeling to their new commander. She may not be a true natblida, nor was she born on Earth, but she will always be one of them. A true Grounder. Everyone from Wonkru, including Clarke's own family kneel and chant.

"Brana Heda don gyon op!" (New commander has risen)

Clarke raises a single hand to signal them to stop, and they do. 

"Today has been hard. We've been through lose and change in such a short amount of time. But we are still here. All of us. We've survived hunger, war, and the end of our world. We've survived so much and now it is time for peace."

Wonkru and everyone else rises to their feet before bowing their heads in submission. Heda has declared peace, it is time to live and move on. Just as everyone disperses to go about their duties and figure out their place in this new world, a green light emits from Sanctum palace. The windows shine brightly for a single moment before it stops. Everyone halts and looks to Clarke, but she isn't looking at them. Clarke looks to Bellamy and takes his hand. 

"Together?"

"Together." 

He takes her hand before they walk up the stairs of Sanctum. But before they reach the doors they open themselves revealing a face they hasn't seen since the mess of Sheidheda on Sanctum had started. Gaia. She was in a Bardo suit with the helmet in her hand and a wild look in her eye. 

"I have something you're going to want to see." Bellamy and Clarke exchange a loo before rushing up the stairs to the door. Gaia gestures they follow and stop when they enter the room wit the anomaly. 

"Gaia what's going on? Where were you?" 

"Clarke..." Gaia looks at her with excitement as she pulls a leaf from her pocket. Both Bellamy and Clarke look at her with bewilderment. 

"Its a leaf." Bellamy states.

"Not just any leaf. Its from Earth."

"What?! But... Earth was destroyed." Clarke steps closer to the flame keeper and studies the plant in the woman's hand. It was so green it almost looked unreal. 

"It was, but it came back." Clarke glances up at her before looking bak down at the leaf. This was was a lot to take in. 

"How is that possible?" Bellamy speaks up finally finding his words. 

"Think about it. We have been gone for over a hundred years. Your friend may have just been wrong about his calculations. Earth needed more time than ten years to heal. And it did." Gaia's eyes filled with hope and excitement beyond belief. 

What she was saying was true. Earth, home, was back. Bellamy looks to Clarke for what to do next, everyone needed to know. This could change everything, and for the better. Given the state Sanctum was in, Wonkru and Eligius could return back to Earth with no more wars between them and those loyal to the Primes and Children of Gabriel. They could all be free to chose their paths in life and this was how they did it.

"Looking to you Heda." Bellamy smirks. 

"Clarke.. You're Heda now?" Both Bellamy and Clarke nod at Gaia before she kneels. 

"You can stand, Gaia. That's not necessary." The woman smiles before looking at the leaf and blonde holding it. 

"What will you do?"

Clarke bites her lower lip as she thinks. This is their opportunity to start over, to do better. Truly hold their promise to Monty and live in peace. In a split second the new commander makes up her mind. 

"We announce the return of our home."

The three walk out of the palace and make the announcement, listening to the cheers all around. There was much to celebrate that day. Cadogan and his people were handled. Jordan had figured out the real message and dealt with it in Bardo, much to many's unknown knowledge. Shediheda was taken care of, Clarke and Bellamy were now engaged, Wanheda was now Heda... and Earth has returned.

Everyone in Sanctum celebrates differently with the amount of good news in the atmosphere. Some throw a party and dance to music, while those of Blake, Griffin, and remaining delinquent mix all return to the farm house. Raven and Echo went their separate ways from them and went their own way, while the others celebrated at home. 

Madi plays with Picasso, outside on the front porch, sneaking him some of her food, while the adults drink and cheer. Murphy and Emori were in the kitchen preparing the food, while Miller and Jackson set up games at the table. Gaia and Indra were reunited and stayed in the background enjoying the good company and light air. The only ones not in the midst of everyone else was the newly engaged themselves.

They stayed downstairs for a while to play with Madi and Picasso, as well as have a few drinks with the others, but eventually they slipped away to their own lodgings. They needs some alone time and air away from everyone else.

They both walked to the room that used to belong only to Clarke. It was strange for her to have him there and not only as her best friend, but as her partner, her fiancé, at this time Clarke was the happiest woman in the world. Bellamy watched the blonde woman move around the room calmly in search of something, she was beautiful, it was so different to see her act relaxed in front of him. Unable to avoid it, Bellamy, advanced to the blonde's back, he passed both arms around her waist pushing her small body against his chest while lowering his face towards her hair. 

"Hmm... I could stay like this forever..." Clarke's sweet voice surprised him. 

"You're lucky, I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me now, princess," he whispered, head down, completely hiding his face from the pale neck of his fiancée. 

Clarke let out a pleasant sigh as she noticed Bellamy's soft lips on her neck, leaving small loving kisses. He continued his attentions, but transformed the kisses into little sucks from time to time. Bellamy smiled broadly at the moaning sound of the little blonde in his arms, which prompted him to continue, so his hands slowly slipped down her stomach looking for the edge of her shirt. 

"Bellamy... Our friends are here... They'll hear us..." said Clarke's agitated voice, feeling the large, calloused hands of her fiancé caressing her stomach with no cloth to prevent it.

"Let them listen, I waited too long... I spent more than 100 years without you, I will not wait any longer" whispered Bellamy against the shell of her ear, before leaving a soft bite on the cartilage. 

She melted completely in Bellamy's arms after his last attentions, he was right, they had spent a long time without each other. Clarke turned on his arms quickly before crushing her soft lips over those of the man in front of her, her hands going up the planes of his chest to his shoulders, there she slowly pushed Bellamy's guard jacket out of the way gently. Bellamy, on the other hand, began to pull Clarke's shirt a little harder, wanting to get the offending fabric out of the way. 

"Shhh... Bell relax, we have all the time in the world" 

"I don't care... We'll have this forever. Right now, I need you" he said, finding Clarke's blue eyes. 

Both were silent, breathing heavily on each other's lips, neither knew they were waiting until they moved forward in tandem. Bellamy and Clarke began kissing desperately, abruptly and passionately, nothing could break this moment. Tired of Clarke's black shirt, Bellamy grabbed the neckline with both hands and pulled hard, causing the shirt to rip in two. He felt Clarke's complaint form in his mouth, so he brought his hands to her breasts completely diverting her attention. 

She started pulling Bellamy's clothes, while he was getting rid of Clarke's, both laughing at each other's lips, both because of Bellamy's clumsiness trying to find the bed, and because of the happiness of the moment. Soon both were on the cold sheets completely naked. Clarke's hands, running the width of her future husband's back, she felt tiny underneath his body, he was all muscle, height and width, she on the other hand was short and curvy. As soon as the passion had grown, it diminished at the moment that they should be joined in a way completely different from what they had done before. 

Bellamy's eyes scanned the face of the blonde beneath him, looking for any discomfort or regret, but in her eyes he found only love and trust. Both found their lips in a desperate kiss as they joined, becoming one, letting out small moans in each other's mouths. Bellamy, separated his face looking for the blue eyes of his love, at the same time that one of his big hands caressed the side of her beautiful face.

Once her gaze met Bellamy's brown eyes, she could not help but sigh and lose herself, there, in front of her, was only love, unconditional love, pure love. Clarke's hands rose to intertwine in Bellamy's messy locks, before joining their lips again, in another kiss that showed love and a promise, a promise of eternal love. None could help but get lost in the magical feeling that occurred when their bodies moved in perfect sync, as if it were a dance they had practiced all their lives, they were sure that everyone in the house knew what was happening in the room, none could control the sounds or the love they had for each other. Nor did they want to, they had gone too long without demonstrating it. It was when they ended up at the same time, with their breathing fast, their bodies covered in sweat and tiredness, that Bellamy rested his sweaty forehead against hers, staring into her eyes.

"The heart and the head" he said in a hoarse, choppy voice. "I love you, brave princess"

"The heart and the head" she answered in the same way, before finding herself in a new slower kiss. "I love you, my Rebel King"

Clarke didn't know at what moment she fell asleep, neither when Bellamy left her side, the worst thing was not knowing how long she had been sleeping, her first day as Heda and she could hear everyone's voices around the house, she was already staying behind. She began to dress quickly and accurately, until she remembered what Bellamy had done with her T-shirt the night before. As she sanned the room for a new shirt she finds one one with a note on it resting on the desk. 

"Sorry about your old shirt, I'll make it up to you, Bellamy." she read aloud, shaking her head.

After getting ready, she ran down the stairs to say good morning to the people in the kitchen, unfortunately they were not the people Clarke was looking for. She went out on the porch, surprised by the sight in front of her, a couple of meters away, there was Bellamy's big body lying on the grass, being completely crushed by Picasso and Madi, the trio laughed like children, nobody could tell if they were tickling or playing fights. Laughing a little, she sat down on the first step to enjoy the view.

"It's nice to see my brother happy for the first time in his life." said Octavia's loud voice, scaring her.

"I didn't notice you there..." Octavia looks to Clarke with a chuckle as she walks closer. "Yeah, it's nice to see him happy" whispered the blonde, laughing a little. 

"You're the one to blame, sister" said the brunette, sitting next to her, handing her a cup of coffee.

"You are also to blame for his happiness, O, you are part of our crazy family."

"Right, our family is... Crazy" both women began to laugh before falling silent observing the peaceful moment in front of them, something they never thought they would see. "What are we going to do now, Heda?" Octavia asks with a small teasing smirk, making Clarke chuckle before sighing and looking up at the sky. 

Sanctum was a safe haven, a place to go when things were bad, like when Earth was on the brink of destruction from ALIE, and then after primfaya and the bombs dropped by McCreary. But now things were different. Earth was back and well again, there were no threats imminent to end the planet. This was a time of peace, and to Clarke the decision was obvious; it was time to go home.

"Now... now we go back to Earth."

Octavia smiles and looks from her near sister in law to her brother and niece. Bellamy and Madi stop playing with Picasso for a moment to wave at them before continuing what they were doing, running around with a ball and tossing it around with the dog. This was peace, and now it was time to live fully, just like they were meant to. 

"Earth huh?"

"As much as I like it here, it's not our home, it's a good place to escape, even a vacation, but not to live..." thought Wanheda aloud, before looking at her second one fondly. "It's time to go home. It's time to go back to Earth."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Translation:  
> Trig: Brana Heda don gyon op!  
> English: New commander has risen!

**Author's Note:**

> We decided to break the story up into two parts, so the second half will be up soon!
> 
> Translations:  
> Trig: natrona  
> English: traitor  
> Trig: Yu're nou afraid kom face yur kwelnes  
> English: You're not afraid to face your weakness  
> Trig: Nou listen kom em, Klark. Beja-  
> English: Don't listen to him Clarke, Please-  
> Trig: Mebi oso na hit choda op nodotaim  
> English: May we meet again


End file.
